TTT H H EEE EEE L DD EEE RR SS CC RR OO L L SS V V
T H H E E L D D E R R S C R R O O L L S V V
T HHH EE EE L D D EE RR SS C RR O O L L SS V V
T H H E E L D D E R R S C R R O O L L S V V
T H H EEE EEE LLL DD EEE R R SS CC R R OO LLL LLL SS V
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SSSSSSS KK KK YY YY RRRRRRR IIII MMM MMM
SSSSSSSSS KK KK YY YY RR RR II MMMM MMMM
SSS SS KK KK YY YY RR RR II MM MM MM MM
SSS KK KK YYYY RRRRRRR II MM MMM MM
SSS KKKK YY RRRR II MM M MM
SSS KK KK YY RR RR II MM MM
SS SSS KK KK YY RR RR II MM MM
SSSSSSSSS KK KK YY RR RR II MM MM
SSSSSSS KK KK YY RR RR IIII MM MM
*******************************************
* Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim *
* Type: Walkthrough/FAQ *
* For: Xbox 360, PS3, PC *
* Author: Brad Russell "TheGum" *
* Email: lunatic_252000@yahoo.com *
* Twitter: TheGum25 *
* Site: www.herostrike.com *
*******************************************
Version 1.0 - A version with all three potential "main" quest lines and some
sprinkles of other stuff. Forgive any words being fused together or longer
paragraphs than they should be, I had some issues with using a Mac and putting
the text into Notepad. It may take another month to fully flesh this guide
out.
(12/18/11)
Version 1.2 - Finished the Daedra quests and refined a few lower sections.
(12/27/11)
Version 1.3 - Finished the Thieves Guild and refined a few more areas.
(12/30/11)
Version 1.5 - Finished all guilds (that I know of); I think I just need to do
the minor quests for all but the assassins and I'll have the guilds complete.
Next are the Dragon Masks.
(1/3/12)
Version 1.6 - Finished Dragon Priests and made small fixes. Also addressed
some of the problems with the Mac conversion. I know a few quests still have
more spaces than they should.
(1/10/12)
*****************
Table Of Contents
*****************
Use quick find (Ctrl + F) and type in the code or name.
Section: Code:
01. A Brief Foreword
02. Starter Tips ( TIPS222 )
03. Character Customization ( CHAR333 )
Standing Stones ( STST333 )
Custom Classes ( COCL333 )
Races ( RACE333 )
Talent Trees ( TATR333 )
Spells ( SPEL333 )
04. The Dragonborn ( DRB4444 )
Bleak Falls Barrow ( BLFB444 )
Jurgen Windcaller ( USTE444 )
Alftand & Blackreach ( DTAB444 )
Season Unending ( SEAU444 )
Dragonslayer ( DRSL444 )
05. Stormcloaks / Imperial Legion ( STIL555 )
The War of Skyrim ( WAR5555 )
Stormcloak Rebellion ( STRE555 )
Liberation of Skyrim ( LSKY555 )
The Imperial Legion ( IMLG555 )
Reunification of Skyrim ( REUN555 )
06. The Companions ( COMP666 )
07. The College of Winterhold ( MAGE777 )
08. The Thieves Guild ( THI8888 )
Core Quests ( TGCO888 )
Secondary Quests ( TGSE888 )**
09. The Dark Brotherhood ( DABR999 )
10. City Quests ( CIT1010 ) **
11. Settlement Quests ( SET1111 ) **
12. Marriage / Special Quests ( SPQ1212 ) **
Dragon Priest Masks ( DPM1212 )
13. Aedra and Daedra ( DAE1313 )
14. Wild Quests / Dungeons ( WQD1414 ) **
15. Vampirism / Lycanthropy
16. FAQs / Author Info / Copyright
** incomplete
********************
Quest Finder
If you are looking for a certain quest, just use Ctrl + F and then type in the
quest. If I've covered the quest then you'll go right to it, unless I typed
it wrong, and if nothing pops up then I haven't gotten there yet :(
This will also work for most NPCs or names of stuff.
*****************************************************************************
* 1. A Brief Foreword *
*****************************************************************************
To put is simply, Skyrim is nearly a flawless game. It's not perfect because
of the flawed combat, long and numerous loading screens, or the endless
amount of glitches; it is perfect in that you will have at least a month of
your life taken away if you want to actually achieve what may be called
"completing Skyrim". That is to say, you finished all the quests you could,
conquered every dungeon, saw every notable location, and fulfilled as many of
the talent trees as possible. I believe they say level 81 is the level cap,
which means all the skills are at max level and you can no longer gain XP.
So just like Oblivion which claimed several months of my life, Skyrim and
the surely upcoming expansion(s) will claim almost as much. I say almost
because with my background in Oblivion and Warcraft this game is very easy
to wrap my head around. It's in my ball park.
This game makes the short list of best games ever. Sure, Mario and Pong make
the nostalgia list, but you old school guys can have those all you want, this
game is better. This game is better than Oblivion just because the Oblivion
realms were no fun and didn't look appealing. Admit it, you only fondly
remember everything else about Oblivion too... That's what everyone did,
replayed the game and NEVER resumed the main quest again, LOL.
TheGum
*****************************************************************************
* 2. Starter Tips ( TIPS222 ) *
*****************************************************************************
The wizard at Dragonsreach in Whiterun will have a wide selection of spells,
from conjuring to healing others you can find anything useful from any of the
schools of magic. Feel free to pick up a few when you have the coin for it.
1000 gold will get you a nice handful of new spells.
If you didn't realize it, you can retrieve some arrows that did not stick to
an enemy. However, other than the really powerful ones I would not suggest
combing floors to find each one.
If you have the patience for it, past level 20 or so you can throw an enchant
on regular jewelry and it will be worth so much more. You'll need to find the
merchants to buy them, but this is a great way to earn money with your throw-
away jewelry and gems.
Swords, maces, and axes swing for different power and speeds.
You have a shield bash; just hold up your shield and press attack.
You can dual-wield magic, 1H weapons, and mix the two. Try flames and a shield
and see if that works. You can do whatever. There are raw minerals to harvest
in the land from rock formations, but you
need a pickaxe to retrieve them. Very
useful for blacksmiths.
Don't forget to use your leathers and materials to improve your armor
weapons at grindstones and workbenches.
Save anything with an effect and disenchant it at an enchanting table.
Save often. Make a minimum of three save slots per character, and I mean
aside from the auto-saves.
Choose light armor or heavy armor and stick with it. Or switch to the other
very quickly if you don't like how the game plays in one kind.
In the early game, stuff is not worth the base value. It may say 25 gold, but
you probably only get 6 or so out of it, so don't sweat the small gold amounts
in the early game too much.
Stamina will allow you to carry more items. If you must drop weight, have to
drop normal gear and weapons, no choice.
You can sprint, which consumes stamina.
Your horse can sprint too; or gallop,
or canter, or whatever it's called.
You can pick up objects (on the 360, hold A for a second or two and you will
carry the object, hold again to let go).
You can quickly equip or take stuff by pressing the attack button.
Pressing pause sometimes fixes glitches.
Keep good track of your minor quests. They don't take much to complete and
they give decent rewards.
Once you build up a few thousand gold, consider seeking out trainers to help
boost your leveling. It is expensive, but the reduced time to level is a big
bonus.
Don't buy gear or armor from merchants. You will find stuff from killing people
and the drops will level as you level, so there is a high likelihood when you
buy something it will be replaced in no time.
My trick to picking locks is to start at the top, go all the way to both sides,
halfway between top and the sides, and then anywhere in between. You can't just
jiggle a moment and judge from that. You have to jiggle it a little bit longer
to know if you are close.
Sneaking is easier than you will make it out to be. So long as you are not in
direct light and have a high stealth rating, you are most likely not going to
be spotted.
Clearing any outside areas is not permanent, as they will eventually be
repopulated with enemies and loot. You can use some outside chests as
temporary holding places, but you will need to work fast to find a home, like
in Whiterun.
You gain a resting bonus by sleeping every now and then. You can see how long
your rest bonus is in the Active Effects tab in your magic menu. It merely
lets you improve skills 10% faster than without, so if you see an unowned bed
and you haven't slept in a game day or more, may as well sleep for a few hours.
An hour of rest is like a second or half of actual time, so no reason not to.
When you kill any dragon you gain a dragon soul. You spend these in your magic
menu under shouts on any shouts that are not yet unlocked.
Allies can be commanded to do actions like use objects. They can also be killed
by you if you are not careful once they are crawling.
Powers that are once a day are once a game day.
Every person you steal from seems to know it and will send some thugs your way
after a few game days. I'm not sure how, but both people I've ever stolen from
sent three thugs who had notes with their name on it.
You charge magic items by using the "charge" option in the menu where you
find it; not by selecting the soul gems. FYI, soul gems recharge magic items.
One of the best things you can do is find trainers for the skills you don't
use and just pay for their training once you reach about level 25 or so. If
you have asperations of reaching high levels, you would have to spend those
levels doing stuff you didn't do at all before. Maybe you would have fun
blacksmithing, enchanting, and doing alchemy to reach level 81, but I will
not.
Don't underestimate the power of the enchanting, smithing, and alchemy perks,
especially enchanting.
If you want to create heavy armor, you need to grab a pickaxe and look for
discolorations in caves and usually those can be mined. You then find a
smelter and turn the ore into ingots.
*****************************************************************************
* 3. Character Customization ( CHAR333 ) *
*****************************************************************************
===============
Standing Stones ( STST333 )
===============
You can follow one of these star signs at a time, and you can switch back and
forth as you wish; though I doubt you could switch within a day to refresh a
daily cooldown, as it would take a long time to get around to each stone.
Skills fall under three basic sets, and they have the following stones:
Mage - Learn Magic skills 20% faster.
Warrior - Learn Combat skills 20% faster.
Thief - Learn Stealth and the remaining skills 20% faster.
Location: All three are found at the bend in the road leading NW from Helgen,
which you will run into after you escape the first area in the game. You
can't miss them and you better grab one when you do even if you have no idea
if you want them.
Remember, you can always come back to these three and change. However, there
are so many more that may prove more useful to you.
-----
Lover - Learn all skills 15% faster.
Opinion: An obvious choice if you've yet to settle on what you want to be, like
an undecided major in college. It's a great choice if you find yourself
mixing it up with everything. But if for instance you don't use magic, then
this isn't helping you as much. You need to be committed to using all three
major sets of skills.
Location: NE of Markarth, up a mountain, so just go to Salvius Farm outside the
city, head North a little bit, and then go directly East and you should at
least see the stone symbol pop up on your radar.
-----
Steed - No speed loss from wearing armor, +100 carry limit, equipped armor
weighs nothing.
Opinion: A must-have skill for all heavy armor wearers, and possibly the best
stone for all due to the extra carry limit; it means you won't have to
increase
stamina if you aren't melee just to carry more.
Location: NW of Solitude near Ironback Hideout. If you check your map it will
be directly West of the Thalmor Embassy, on the other side of the mountain
range/top. If you follow the road there will be a sign past Wolfskull Cave
and
the stone is directly North of there; you can't reach it if you approach
from the East, you have to approach from the South which is the road.
-----
Lady - +25% health and stamina regen.
Opinion: Helps if you fear dying and need help with power attacks.
Location: On an isle in the lake North of Falkreath. It's on the SW side of
the
lake.
-----
Lord - 50 points of damage resistance; 25% magic resistance.
Opinion: Also helps stay alive and protects against some magic.
Location: It's directly East from Morthal, but it's high on the mountains. I
was side tracked by the headless horseman who I lost, but feel free to go south
to the Labyrinthian, NE up the mountain trail to a dragon and a shout, and
then further NE along the cliff until you reach the stone which is occupied
by three bandits.
-----
Apprentice - +100% magicka regen, -100% magic resistance.
Opinion: A do-or-die stone which makes you powerful against non-magic users,
but you'll die quickly against strong magic users if you don't bring some
kind of resistances.
Location: NW from Morthal, in the middle of the swamp.
-----
Atronach - +50% magicka, 50% absorb spells, but -50% magicka regen.
Opinion: You are better with magic to start a fight, but you'll have less mana
as the fight drags on, and you are somewhat resistant to magic users. A solid
choice if you want to use spells.
Location: Just go South out of Windhelm and you'll eventually run into in the
hot springs. It's just NE of Darkwater Crossing, if that helps.
-----
Serpent - Paralyze for 5 seconds and do 25 points of damage once a day.
Opinion: A powerful spell that will almost guarantee a dead strong enemy.
Location: On Serpentstone Isle, which you will go to in the first quest to
join the Stormcloaks in Windhelm. The isle is east of the College of
Winterhold.
-----
Shadow - Become invisible for 60 seconds once a day.
Opinion: Useful for escapes, but does nothing for you unless you get yourself
into a fubar situation.
Location: Go Southwest from Riften, find the road leading East, and you will
see the stone pop up on your radar. Should be a single mage to kill.
-----
Ritual - Raise all dead to fight for you once a day.
Opinion: Too situational, but very nice if you get into a fight with a lot of
corpses around.
Location: Directly East of Whiterun, along the road and river; hard to miss.
-----
Tower - Unlock an Expert level lock once a day.
Opinion: Not too bad for allowing you to completely ignore the lockpicking
talent tree.
Location: This is West of the College of Winterhold, quite a way but you'll
hit
it along the icy flows.
-----
==============
Custom Classes
( COCL333 )
==============
You can go by these, or you can always go with a utility option in any armor.
Utility means you sneak, start with a bow, spend your mana, and then whip out
a weapon. Utility will live and die by the use of special powers, like racials
and shouts.
Heavy Armor Classes
-------------------
You are going to be weighed down unless you get the Steed stone sign. I would
suggest getting that as almost mandatory.
Don't think you can ignore the heavy armor tree and be protected by much; heavy
armor unbuffed is just like having full light armor plus one more piece.
Name: Brawler
Perks: heavy (smithing optional as it is your only defense)
Strategy: You basically bank of the Fists of Steel perk in the heavy armor
tree. Also, I've seen a few heavy armor pieces that boost unarmed attacks.
Would strongly suggest using a Khajiit for their claws, though I am not sure
if the perk, claws, and armor bonuses stack like I think they might.
Best Race: Khajiit
Name: Warrior
Perks: 2H, heavy (smithing optional as it is your only defense)
Strategy: Nuke melee attacks. You will need to drink potions when in fights
that you cannot handle.
Best Race: Nord
Name: Tank
Perks: 1H, block, heavy
Strategy: The most traditional of the classes. You balance defense and offense
effectively. With a shield you can wait to put points in the block tree until
you have some 1H perks.
Best Race: (in order) Orc, Redguard, Nord, Imperial
Name: Berserker
Perks: 1H, heavy (smithing optional as it is your only defense)
Strategy: Bank on the two dual-wielding perks in the 1H tree. I would also
suggest getting the axe and sword perks for bleeds and crits. You have almost
no defense. Be sure to use your power attacks often.
Best Race: Redguard
Name: Battle-Mage
Perks: heavy, destro, block
Strategy: I'm thinking shield bash and flames is your combat plan.
Best Race: High Elf
Name: Paladin
Perks: heavy, 1H, resto (block optional)
Strategy: Maybe go as a tank, and whip out a heal when needed, or keep your
healing spells ready at all times. Either a shield or wards.
Best Race: Imperial
Cloth Classes
-------------
You can use light armor here, but you'll find that most magic bonuses are found
on cloth gear. But with clothes you don't need to worry about stamina or
carrying lots of armor and weapons, so therefore you do not need the Steed
stone sign.
Also, consider using a staff. Staves can shoot destro spells or provide
powerful crowd control spells. Consider the Wabbajack from the Sheogorath
daedric quest in Solitude for some chaos.
Alteration has a nice Mage Armor perk, and resto has wards if you are looking
for magical protection. So any caster class can use the illusion or alteration
schools if they want.
Enchanting (without perks) is almost required to provide you extra boosts as
you will need them.
Breton, Dark Elf, and High Elf are the races to think about, though I would
say High Elf in all cases.
Name: Mage
Perks: destro
Strategy: You are a nuking caster with nimble feet as your only way to avoid
some damage.
Best Race: High Elf (in spite of Dark Elf bonus to destro and extra spell)
Name: Conjurer
Perks: conjure (destro optional)
Strategy: You summon minions to take enemy damage. You can use bound items or
some destro spells when needed.
Best Race: Breton
Name: Healer
Perks: resto, alt, illusion, destro or 1H
Strategy: You basically out-heal the damage you take. It's like taking your
armor and shield away in favor of a healing spell. I would not recommend this
unless you want to challenge yourself.
Best Race: High Elf or Imperial
I believe it may be possible to utilize allies and heal them, but that is very
risky as they can't down potions like you can. However, there are many spells
and scrolls that boost friendlies in combat.
Name: Warlock
Perks: conjure, destro, resto, alt, illusion
Strategy: The ultimate caster class. You will use all to survive battles. This
may be a slow-to-form idea to fully form, but I can see it working well. You
may need to start as a mage and quickly pick up the other perks.
Best Race: High Elf
Light Armor Classes
-------------------
Don't think of light armor as a slight step above cloth; it is pretty good
and can be buffed to be tougher than unbuffed heavy armor.
Name: Skirmisher
Perks: 1H, block, light
Strategy: You run a more nimble version of the tank class.
Best Race: Redguard
*NOTE: There is no light armor dual-wielding class suggested because you will
have less protection than the heavy armor berserker. If anything you could
try dual-wielding as a skirmisher after you have some light armor perks.*
Name: Ranger
Perks: sneak, archery, light (1H and shield as a back-up)
Strategy: Very simple, you sneak and shoot enemies and hide in the shadows
hoping they don't find you. If you are spotted you should fall back to a 1H
and shield until you have the Ranger perk, which allows you to move faster with
a drawn bow. Also get the Steady Hand, Slow-Time shout, and Unrelenting Force
shout and you can keep your bow always in hand.
Best Race: Wood Elf (Khajiit and Argonian work too)
Name: Assassin
Perks: sneak, 1H, light
Strategy: With the Dagger x15 damage perk in the sneak tree, and the damage
boosts in the 1H tree, you can one-shot almost anything in the game in stealth.
But you should have light armor and a shield as a back-up plan.
Best Race: Khajiit
Name: Necromancer
Perks: any magic (destro recommended), light, sneak
Strategy: Less a strategy and more of an idea. Rather than falling back to a
shield and 1H in all of the above classes, you instead whip out some spells.
You're basically a light armor caster with the freedom to start with a sneak
attack bow or dagger.
Best Race: Dark Elf
=====
Races ( RACE333 )
=====
Your race will have a significant impact on your gameplay. The abilities are
not ground-breaking, but they help. Most powers could mean the difference in
success and failure in certain fights, especially boss fights. The bonuses are
not as big a deal as you may want to believe, even the +10 ones.
Feel free to go against the suggestions of the powers, abilities, and bonuses;
you'll make the game harder for yourself but it won't be impossible at all.
*NOTE: All racial powers are once per game day.*
-----
Name: Argonian
Homeland: Black Marsh - swamp region, SE of Cyrodiil
Abilities: 50% resist disease, water breathing
Bonus +10: lockpicking
Bonus +5: alt, light, pickpocket, resto, sneak
Power: Histskin - restores health over a short time
Best Use: Stealth focus with a heal power when up against tougher foes. And
they seem to be the best utility race, which could mean they are the worst
race. Oh well, they are the best-looking race at least, lol.
-----
Name: Breton
Homeland: High Rock - Featured in TES2, varied climates, NW of Skyrim
Abilities: 25% resist magic; conjure familiar spell to start
Bonus +10: conjuration
Bonus +5: alchemy, alt, illusion, resto, speech
Power: Dragonskin - absorbs spell damage
Best Use: Conjurer, but melee or caster would benefit from the magic resist.
-----
Name: Dark Elf
Homeland: Morrowind - Wild climate and geography including volcanoes, East of
Cyrodiil, featured in TES3
Abilities: 50% resist fire; sparks spell to start
Bonus +10: destruction
Bonus +5: alchemy, alt, illusion, light, sneak
Power: Ancestor's Wrath - enflame to damage attackers
Best Use: Caster or stealth; maybe start in stealth and fall back to magic.
-----
Name: High Elf
Homeland: Summerset Isle - Isolated island SW of Tamriel
Abilities: +50 magicka; fury spell to start
Bonus +10: illusion
Bonus +5: alt, conjure, destro, enchant, resto
Power: Highborn - restores magicka
Best Use: Any caster class.
-----
Name: Imperial
Homeland: Cyrodiil - Center of Tamriel, seat of the Empire, featured in TES4
Abilities: Find more gold
Bonus +10: resto
Bonus +5: block, destro, enchant, heavy, 1H
Power: Voice of the Emperor - calms enemies from attacking
Best Use: Tank, paladin, or battle-mage.
-----
Name: Khajiit
Homeland: Elsweyr - Jungle region south of Cyrodiil
Abilities: Claw attacks
Bonus +10: sneak
Bonus +5: alchemy, archery, lockpicking, pickpocket, 1H
Power: Night Eye - always see at night
Best Use: Any stealth class.
-----
Name: Nord
Homeland: Skyrim - Featured in TES5 (this game, lol)
Abilities: 50% resist frost
Bonus +10: 2H
Bonus +5: block, light, 1H, smithing, speech
Power: Battlecry - fears nearby enemies
Best Use: A heavy armor melee fighter. Battlecry helps when against too many
enemies.
-----
Name: Orc
Homeland: Orsinium - Single city of a province within the region of High Rock
Abilities: none
Bonus +10: heavy
Bonus +5: block, enchant, 1H, smithing, 2H
Power: Berserker Rage - x2 melee damage and 1/2 damage taken
Best Use: Any heavy armor melee class.
-----
Name: Redguard
Homeland: Hammerfell - Featured in TES2, West of Skyrim, desert wastelands
Abilities: 50% resist poison
Bonus +10: 1H
Bonus +5: alt, archery, block, destro, smithing
Power: Adrenaline Rush - stamina regens x10 faster
Best Use: Archer or melee for the power.
-----
Name: Wood Elf
Homeland: Valenwood - Forest region full of migratory trees as cities, SW of
Cyrodiil
Abilities: 50% resist poison and disease
Bonus +10: archery
Bonus +5: alchemy, light, lockpicking, pickpocket, sneak
Power: Command Animal - makes an animal an ally
Best Use: Any stealth class.
-----
============
Talent Trees ( TATR333 )
============
I know they are called perks, but they are basically talent trees like in any
other RPG.
* The Mage *
These skills fall under the star sign for the mage.
Unofficially you want to wear cloth, meaning anything without an armor rating.
But feel free to dabble in magic in any build. You will find that without
hardcore speccing in magic and favoring melee perks will result in casting
being ineffective in combat past level 10 or so.
Illusion
--------
This tree mostly pertains to CC abilities; CC stands for crowd control. CC is
when you take one or more enemies and remove them from combat for a time. This
tree is pretty powerful to help you ensure you survive a big fight. However, if
you are better prepared for combat, or enter in stealth, then this tree will be
pretty useless I'm afraid. A decent option if you are a caster, to at least
invest a few points.
Key Abilities: Fear, Calm, Invisibility
Novice Illusion - Half cost for novice level spells.
Illusion Dual Casting 20 - Dual casting illusion spells makes for a more
powerful effect. I believe this means dual casting the same spell.
Animage 20 - Work on higher level animals.
Kindred Mage 40 - Work on higher level people.
Quiet Casting 50 - Any spell is silent to others.
Master of the Mind 90 - Work on undead, daedra, and automatons.
Hypnotic Gaze 30 - Calm spells work on higher levels. Combines with animage and
kindred mage.
Aspect of Terror 50 - Fear spells work on higher levels. Combines with animage
and kindred mage.
Rage 70 - Frenzy spells work on higher levels. Combines with animage and
kindred mage.
Master of the Mind 90 - Work on undead, daedra, and automatons.
Apprentice Illusion 25 - Half cost for apprentice level spells.
Adept Illusion 50 - Half cost for adept level spells.
Expert Illusion 75 - Half cost for expert level spells.
Master Illusion 100 - Half cost for master level spells.
Conjuration
-----------
Summons allies, raise undead, or create weapons.
Key Abilities: Raise dead, summonings, bound weapons and armor, and soul traps.
Novice Conjuration - Half cost for novice level spells.
Conjuration Dual Casting 20 - Dual casting a conjuration spell allows it to
last longer. I believe this means dual casting the same spell.
Mystic Binding 20 - Bound weapons do more damage.
Soul Stealer 30 - Bound weapons cast soul trap on targets.
Oblivion Binding 50 - Bound weapons will banish summoned creatures and turn
raised ones.
Necromancy 40 - Greater duration for reanimated undead.
Dark Souls 70 - Reanimated undead have 100 more HP.
Twin Souls 100 - You can have two atronachs or undead.
Summoner 30 - Summon atronachs or undead twice as far away.
Atronmancy 40 - Atronachs last twice as long.
Elemental Potency 80 - Atronachs are 50% more powerful.
Twin Souls 100 - You can have two atronachs or undead.
Apprentice Conjuration 25 - Half cost for apprentice level spells.
Adept Conjuration 50 - Half cost for adept level spells.
Expert Conjuration 75 - Half cost for expert level spells.
Master Conjuration 100 - Half cost for master level spells.
Destruction
-----------
Use fire, frost, or electricity to kill enemies.
Key Abilities: Fire, Frost, and Lightning
Novice Destruction - Half cost for novice level spells.
Destruction Dual Casting 20 - Dual casting destruction spell overcharges the
effect into a more powerful cast. I believe this means dual casting the same
spell.
Impact 40 - Dual casting will stagger enemies.
Augmented Flames 30 (2) - Fire spells do 25% more damage.
Intense Flames 50 - Fire damage fears weak enemies.
Augmented Frost 30 (2) - Frost spells do 25% more damage.
Deep Freeze 60 - Frost damage stuns weak enemies.
Augmented Shock 30 (2) - Shock spells do 25% more damage.
Disintegrate 70 - Shock damage finishes weak enemies.
Apprentice Destruction 25 - Half cost for apprentice level spells.
Rune Master 40 - Can place runes fives times farther away.
Adept Destruction 50 - Half cost for adept level spells.
Expert Destruction 75 - Half cost for expert level spells.
Master Destruction 100 - Half cost for master level spells.
Restoration
-----------
Heal yourself, protect from magic attacks, and regen mana.
Key Abilities: Heals, turn undead, magic wards
Novice Restoration - Half cost for novice level spells.
Restoration Dual Casting 20 - Dual casting resto spells combines them. I
believe this means dual casting the same spell.
Respite 40 - Healing also restores stamina.
Recovery 30 (2) - Mana regens 25% faster.
Avoid Death 90 - Healed for 250 when below 10% health once a day.
Ward Absorb 60 - Wards refill your mana when spells hit.
Regeneration 20 - Healing spells cure 50% more.
Necromage 70 - All spells are more effective against undead.
Apprentice Restoration 25 - Half cost for apprentice level spells.
Adept Restoration 50 - Half cost for adept level spells.
Expert Restoration 75 - Half cost for expert level spells.
Master Restoration 100 - Half cost for master level spells.
Alteraton
---------
Fairly useless no matter how you cut it; while paralysis helps you would still
need to use other talents to kill enemies.
Key Abilities: night vision, waterbreathing, etc, and protection and paralysis
Novice Alteraton - Half cost for novice level spells.
Alteration Dual Casting 20 - Dual casting alt. spells combines the effects.
I believe this means dual casting the same spell.
Mage Armor 30 (3) - Protection spells are double effective if wearing cloth.
Magic Resistance 30 (3) - Blocks 10% of a spells effect.
Stability 70 - Alt. spells last longer.
Atronach 100 - Absorbs 30% of the magicka of any spells that hit you.
Apprentice Alteraton 25 - Half cost for apprentice level spells.
Adept Alteraton 50 - Half cost for adept level spells.
Expert Alteraton 75 - Half cost for expert level spells.
Master Alteraton 100 - Half cost for master level spells.
Enchanting
----------
Allows you to buff your weapons and armor, and allows you to easily fill
soul gems to recharge your magic weapons.
Key Abilities:
Enchanter (5) - New enchantments are 20% stronger.
Soul Squeezer 20 - Soul gems recharge more power.
Soul Siphon 40 - Death blows on creatures fill the weapon with 5% of victim's
soul.
Insightful Enchanter 50 - Armor enchants are 25% stronger.
Corpuse Enchanter 70 - HP, MG, and STAM enchants are 25% stronger.
Extra Effect 100 - Can put two enchants on an item.
Fire Enchanter 30 - Fire enchants are 25% stronger.
Frost Enchanter 40 - Frost enchants are 25% stronger.
Storm Enchanter 50 - Shock enchants are 25% stronger.
Extra Effect 100 - Can put two enchants on an item.
* The Warrior *
These skills fall under the warrior star sign.
Smithing
--------
Not entirely devoted to heavy armor. The ability to craft your own armor will
prove very valuable past level 15 or so.
Steel Smithing - Create steel items and improve them twice as much.
Arcane Blacksmith 60 - Able to improve enchanted items.
Elven Smithing 30 - Create elven items and improve them twice as much.
Advanced Armors 50 - Create scaled and plate items and improve them twice as
much.
Glass Smithing 70 - Create glass items and improve them twice as much.
Dragon Smithing 100 - Create dragon items and improve them twice as much.
Dwarven Smithing 30 - Create dwarven items and improve them twice as much.
Orcish Smithing 50 - Create orcish items and improve them twice as much.
Ebony Smithing 80 - Create ebony items and improve them twice as much.
Daedric Smithing 90 - Create daedric items and improve them twice as much.
Dragon Smithing 100 - Create dragon items and improve them twice as much.
Heavy Armor
-----------
At first you will sacrifice mobility for melee protection, but past level 20
or so you could tinker with going heavy armor and stealth.
*NOTE: Wearing base armor means head, chest, hands, and feet.*
Juggernaut (5) - Increases heavy armor rating by 20%.
Fists of Steel 30 - Unarmed attacks in heavy armor do their armor rating as
extra damage.
Cushioned 50 - Half fall damage if wearing base heavy armor.
Conditioning 70 - Heavy armor weighs nothing and no longer slows you down.
Well Fitted 30 - 25% armor bonus if all heavy base armor.
Tower of Strength 50 - 50% less stagger when only in heavy armor (possibly
includes a shield).
Matching Set 70 - 25% armor bonus if the base heavy armor belongs to the same
series.
Reflect Blows 100 - 10% chance to reflect melee attacks if in base heavy armor.
Block
-----
Makes your shield more effective and a more potent "weapon."
Key Abilities: Shield Bash
Shield Wall (5) - Block 20% more damage.
Quick Reflexes 30 - Time slows if you are blocking a power attack.
Deflect Arrows 30 - Arrows to your shield do no damage to you.
Elemental Protection 50 - Blocking protects against 50% destruction magic.
Block Runner 70 - Move faster while blocking.
Shield Charge 100 - Sprinting while blocking will knock down most enemies.
Power Bash 30 - Your Shield Bash can be powered up, like a melee power attack.
Deadly Bash 50 - Shield Bash is x5 stronger.
Disarming Bash 70 - Chance to disarm when power bashing.
Shield Charge 100 - Sprinting while blocking will knock down most enemies.
Two-Handed
----------
Improves the use of 2H weapons to better compensate for the lack of defense
they provide. This means you pretty much have to go heavy armor unless you
want to be a powerhouse paper doll.
Key Weapons: Battleaxes, Warhammers, and Greatswords
*NOTE: 2H means two-handed.*
Barbarian - 2H do 20% more damage.
Champion's Stance 20 - Power 2H strikes cost 25% less stamina.
Devastating Blow 50 - Standing while power attacking does 25% more damage and
may decapitate the target.
Great Critical Charge 50 - 2H power attack while
sprinting will do double the
critical damage.
Sweep 70 - Horizontal power attacks hit all targets in front of you.
Warmaster 100 - Backwards power attacks have a 25% chance to stun the target.
Limbsplitter 30 (3) - Battleaxes cause bleed damage.
Deep Wounds 30 (3) - Greatswords have a 10% chance to be critical.
Skullcrusher 30 (3) - Warhammers ignore 25% of targets armor.
One-Handed
----------
Allows you to specialize into maces, axes, or swords, but this also buffs
daggers as well (hint hint at stealth players and that x15 dagger perk). You
can also dual-wield (as I believe anyone can) more effectively.
Key Weapons: Daggers, Swords, Axes, Maces
*NOTE: 1H means one-handed.*
Armsman (5) - 1H does 20% more damage.
Fighting Stance 20 - Power attacks with 1H cost 25% less stamina.
Critical Charge 50 - A 1H sprinting power attack does double critical damage.
Savage Strike 50 - Standing power attacks do 25% more damage with a chance to
decapitate the target.
Paralyzing Strike 100 - Backwards power attacks have a 25% chance to stun.
Hack and Slash 30 (3) - Axes cause bleed damage.
Bone Breaker 30 (3) - Maces ignore 25% armor.
Bladesman 30 (3) - Swords have a 10% chance to do critical damage.
Dual Flurry 30 (2) - Dual-wielding attacks are 20% faster.
Dual Savagery 70 - Dual-wielding power attacks do 50% more damage.
Archery
-------
Pure focus in this tree can make it possible to use only a bow. Combined with
the stealth tree and you can kill the enemies before the know you're there and
stay in shadows if they do.
Key Abilities: Combine with sneaking to do extra damage (no reason not to)
Overdraw (5) - Bows do 20% more damage.
Critical Shot 40 (3) - 10% chance of a critical hit.
Hunter's Discipline 50 - Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies (you
only recover about 1/4 normally).
Ranger 60 - Move faster with a drawn bow.
Bullseye 100 - 15% chance of stunning the target.
Eagle Eye 30 - Press your off-hand button to zoom.
Steady Hand 40 (2) - Zooming will slow time by 25%.
Power Shot 50 - Arrows stagger most enemies.
Quick Shot 70 - Draw your bow 30% faster.
* The Thief *
These skills fall under the thief star sign.
Light Armor
-----------
Buffs your light armor to make it similar to base heavy armor.
*NOTE: Wearing base armor means head, chest, hands, and feet.*
Agile Defender (5) - Light armor is 20% more effective.
Custom Fit 30 - 25% bonus if wearing base light armor.
Unhindered 50 - Not slowed down by light armor.
Wind Walker 60 - Stamina regens 50% faster in base light armor.
Matching Set 70 - 25% armor bonus if wearing a matching set of light armor.
Deft Movement 100 - 10% to avoid melee damage in all base light armor.
Sneak
-----
Allows you to avoid detection at all and buff your attacks while undetected.
Key Weapons: Daggers and Bows
Stealth (5) - More difficult to defect when sneaking.
Muffled Movement 30 - Noise from armor is reduced by 50%.
Light Foot 40 - Pressure plate traps won't trigger anymore.
Silent Roll 50 - Sprinting while sneaking does a silent roll.
Silence 70 - Walking and running does not affect detection.
Shadow Warrior 100 - Crouching during combat will cease combat and distant
enemies will need to locate you again.
Backstab 30 - 1H sneak attacks do x6 damage.
Deadly Aim 40 - Sneak bow attacks do x3 damage.
Assassin's Blade 50 - Dagger sneak attacks do x15 damage.
Lockpicking
-----------
Allows you to open more and more chests. You may be able to open all chests
at any time, but you'll go crazy trying to open a master chest with novice
level skills. This is not a big priority until after you've got a good combat
set of talents.
*NOTE: Being easier to pick is hard to define, but just know that you won't
need to work so hard for locks of a certain level once you get the skill.*
Novice Locks - Easier to pick.
Apprentice Locks 25 - Easier to pick.
Quick Hands 40 - Pick locks with detection.
Wax Keys 50 - Copy a picked lock's key. (??? not sure what this means)
Adept Locks 50 - Easier to pick.
Golden Touch 60 - Chests give more gold.
Treasure Hunter 70 - 50% chance to find more good items.
Expert Locks 75 - Easier to pick.
Locksmith 80 - Pick starts near the opening position.
Unbreakable 100 - Lockpicks never break, so you only need 1.
Master Locks 100 - Easier to pick.
Pickpocket
----------
This is a very interesting skill. It's not nearly as useless as one would
thinkby just knowing what pickpocketing means. You actually get some useful
talents up to 50 skill level, and at the end of this tree it can become an
offensive skill against humanoids.
Light Fingers (5) - 20% easier to pick.
Night Thief 30 - +25% chance to pickpocket a sleeping target.
Cutpurse 40 - Taking gold is 50% easier.
Keymaster 60 - Taking keys works most of the time.
Misdirection 70 - Can take equipped weapons.
Perfect Touch 100 - Can take any equipped items.
Poisoned 40 - Put poisons into someone's pocket to cause damage without being
detected.
Extra Pockets 50 - Carrying Capacity increased by 100.
Speech
------
Not bad to invest a few points to get better prices for sold and bought items,
and you can use a "persuade" option in some chats to avoid certain things.
Haggling (5) - 10% better buy/sell prices.
Allure 30 - 10% better prices with the opposite sex.
Merchant 50 - Can sell anything to any merchant.
Investor 70 - Can invest 500 gold into a merchant to increase his gold
permanently (this allows you to sell your more expensive items).
Fence 90 - Can sell stolen goods to any merchant you invested in.
Master Trader 100 - All merchants have 1000 more gold to deal.
Bribery 30 - Can bribe guards to ignore crimes.
Persuasion 50 - Persuasion works 30% more times.
Intimidation 70 - Intimidation works x2 more times.
Alchemy
-------
Allows you to create deadly poisons or beneficial potions easier and more
effectively.
Alchemist (5) - Crafted potions and poisons are 20% more effective.
Physician 20 - Crafted potions to restore health, mana, and stamina are 25%
more effective.
Benefactor 30 - Crafted potions with a buff are 25% more effective.
Experimenter 50 (3) - Eating ingredients reveals two effects.
Snakeblood 80 - 50% resistant to poisions.
Purity 100 - Removes positive effects from poisons and removes negative
effects from potions.
Poisoner 30 - Crafted poisons are 25% more effective.
Concentrated Poison 60 - Poisons on weapons last twice as long.
Green Thumb 70 - Two ingredients are gathered from plants.
======
Spells ( SPEL333 )
======
Spell casting is very difficult, even in spite of the refined mechanics which
make it much easier than in Oblivion. For starters, there are a few things
you need to know about casting:
-Oakflesh is a good spell for all players who anticipate melee enemies
ahead.
-You can dual cast any two spells, and even dual cast the same spell.
In fact, this is what is meant by most of the dual cast perks, to cast
the same spell in both hands.
-Most vendors sell spell tomes (under books), but all court mages at
city castles will sell tomes as well. So will the specialized mages
at the College of Winterhold.
-Joining the College of Winterhold is a good idea to earn some very
powerful caster rewards.
-You don't have to wear cloth items, even though those will have
buffs for casters, you can soon enchant normal armor after you
disenchant the clothes.
-You won't need the steed stone if you do wear clothes, but you will
need it if you decide to wear heavy armor.
-Going with heavy armor and using the steed stone is a powerful
combination to think about using. You won't level as fast, but you
also won't have to drink so many potions during combat.
-Resto spells and perks will be helpful.
-Everyone should unlock the force shout in the main quest, but you
caster really need it to help manage enemies.
-Fears and calms, and/or summonings will be your allies when dealing
with more than one enemy who are stronger than normal.
-Unlike melee and sneaky players, casters will have a steep learning
curve in the early game. You'll need plenty of potions handy and will
need to comb over every area to get all the loose potions.
-Enchanting will help everyone, but casters need every boost they can.
Destruction
-----------
Enthir and Faralda at the College of Winterhold should sell all spells around
the time when you can purchase their half magicka perks.
Novice
Flames - 8 damage per second plus more as the target burns
Frostbite - 8 damage per second to health and stamina
Sparks - 8 damage per second to health and magicka
Apprentice
Firebolt - 25 damage plus more as the target burns
Fire Rune - cast on ground, explodes for 50 damage when enemies get
close
Ice Spike - 25 damage to health and stamina
Frost Rune - cast on ground, explodes for 50 damage when enemies get
close
Lightning Bolt - 25 damage to health and magicka
Lightning Rune - cast on ground, explodes for 50 damage when enemies
get close
Adept
Fireball - 40 damage in 15 ft radius where it lands plus more as the
targets burns
Flame Cloak - 8 damage per second to melee range enemies for 60 sec
Ice Storm - 40 damage in a forward blast to health and stamina
Frost Cloak - 8 damage per second to health and stamina to melee range
enemies for 60 sec
Chain Lightning - 40 damage to health and magicka and leaps to a nearby
enemy
Lightning Cloak - 8 damage per second to health and magicka to melee
range enemies for 60 sec
Expert
Incinerate - 60 damage plus more as the target burns
Wall of Flames - 50 damage when contacted on the ground
Icy Spear - 60 damage to health and stamina
Wall of Frost - 50 damage when contacted on the ground
Thunderbolt - 60 damage to health and magicka
Wall of Storms - 50 damage when contacted on the ground
Master
The master level spells will be available from Faralda (the front gate person)
once your destro skill reaches 100. She will send you on a quest where you
need to visit:
Windward Ruins - outside of Dawnstar
North Skybound Watch - NE of Helgen
Four Skull Lookout - east of Markarth, near Karthwasten
You'll get the fire spell and can then purchase the other two.
You may not like these spells as they operate differently than the rest.
Fire Storm - 100 damage from the caster outward
Blizzard - 20 damage per second to health and stamina from the center
of the storm
Lightning Storm - 75 damage per second
Restoration
-----------
Colette Marence at the College of Winterhold will sell all of these.
Novice
Healing - heal the caster for 10 points per second
Lesser Ward - increase armor by 40 and negate 40 points of spell damage
Apprentice
Fast Healing - heal the caster for 50 HP
Healing Hands - heal the target for 10 HP per second
Steadfast Ward - increase armor by 60 and negate up to 60 points of
spell damage
Turn Lesser Undead - undead up to level 6 flee for 30 sec
Adept
Close Wounds - heals caster for 100
Greater Ward - increases armor by 80 and negate up to 80 points of
spell damage
Heal Other - heals the target for 75 points
Repel Lesser Undead - undead up to level 8 flee for 30 sec
Turn Undead - undead up to level 13 flee for 30 sec
Expert
Circle of Protection - undead up to level 20 who enter the circle will
flee for 30 sec
Grand Healing - heals everyone nearby for 200 HP
Repel Undead - undead up to level 16 will flee for 30 sec
Turn Greater Undead - undead up to level 21 will flee for 30 sec
Master
Colette will begin the master level quests once you reach 90 resto skill. She
will send you below the college to the Augur. It will summon 30 ghosts and your
only job is to stay alive until the trial is over. You'll get Bane and can buy
the other from Colette.
Bane of the Undead - undead up to level 30 will flee for 30 sec and be
set on fire
Guardian Circle - undead up to level 35 will flee for 30 sec upon
entering the circle and the caster heals for 20 HP per second in the
circle
Alteration
----------
Tolfdir at the College of Winterhold will be the main trainer for these
spells.
Novice
Oakflesh - increase armor by 40 for 60 sec
Candlelight - light hovers over you for 60 sec
Apprentice
Stoneflesh - increase armor by 60 for 60 sec
Magelight - ball of light sticks where it lands
Adept
Detect Life - defect living beings through walls
Ironflesh - increase armor by 80 for 60 sec
Telekinesis - pull object from a distance, or launch it
Waterbreathing - breath water for 60 sec
Transmute - turn iron ore to silver, or silver to gold
Found: Ansilvund Burial Chambers - way north of Riften
Halted Stream Camp - NW of Whiterun
Expert
Detect Dead - see undead through walls
Ebonyflesh - increase armor by 100
Paralyze - paralyze target for 10 sec
Master
Toldfir will give you this quest when your alt skill is at 90. You must find a
dagger from a ruin, and then go harvest the scales from a dead dragon. He will
give you the Dragonhide spell and you can buy the other. Equilibrium is found
in Labyrinthian.
Dragonhide - resist 80% of physical damage
Mass Paralysis - all enemies in 40 ft radius are paralyzed for 10 sec
Equilibrium - convert health to magicka per second
Conjuration
-----------
Phinis Gestor at the College of Winterhold will teach all of these spells.
Novice
Bound Sword - create a sword for 120 sec
Summone Familiar - summon a familiar for 60 sec
Raise Zombie - reanimate a weak corpse for 60 sec
Apprentice
Bound Battleaxe - create a 2H sword for 120 sec
Conjure Flame Atronach - summon a flame atronach for 60 sec
Flaming Familiar - suicide familiar
Found: High Gate Ruins - west of Dawnstar
Reanimate Corpse - reanimate a powerful dead body for 60 sec
Soul Trap - if target dies in 60 sec it fills a soul gem
Adept
Bound Bow - create a bow for 120 sec
Banish Daedra - weak daedra are banished
Conjure Frost Atronach - summon a frost atronach for 60 sec
Revenant - reanimate a more powerful dead body for 60 sec
Expert
Command Daedra - other summoned creatures will fight for you
Dread Zombie - reanimate a very powerful dead body for 60 sec
Expel Daedra - powerful daedra are banished
Conjure Dremora Lord - summon a dremora lord for 60 sec
Conjure Storm Atronach - summon a storm atronach for 60 sec
Conjure Dragon Priest - summon a dragon priest for 60 sec
Found: reward from having all 9 dragon priest masks
Master
Visit Phinis at the College of Winterhold at 90 skill to start this quest.
You'll go to the top of the college, slay a dremora twice, and it will give
you what Phinis asks for, and Phinis will give you the Flame Thrall.
Flame Thrall - summon a flame atronach permanently
Frost Thrall - summon a frost atronach permanently
Storm Thrall - summon a storm atronach permanently
Dead Thrall - reanimate a dead body permanently
Illusion
--------
Drevis Neloren at the College of Winterhold will sell you all these spells.
Novice
Clairvoyance - shows the current objective
Courage - allies are improved for 60 sec
Fury - enemies up to level 6 will attack anyone for 60 sec
Apprentice
Calm - enemies up to level 9 won't attack you
Fear - enemies up to level 9 flee from combat for 60 sec
Muffle - move more quietly for 180 sec
Adept
Frenzy - enemies up to level 14 will attack anyone for 60 sec
Rally - allies are improved for 60 sec
Expert
Pacify - enemies up to level 20 won't attack you
Rout - enemies up to level 20 will flee for 60 sec
Invisibility - you turn invisible for 30 sec
Master
Drevis will give you this quest at skill 90. You use the spell to find four
books in the college: table in the arcanaeum, under a bench at top of hall of
attainment, near a barrel in the hall of countenance, and in the Midden near
the atronach forge.
Hysteria - enemies up to level 25 flee for 60 sec
Call to Arms - allies are better for 10 minutes
Harmony - enemies up to level 25 won't attack you for 60 sec
Mayhem - enemies up to level 25 will attack anyone for 60 sec
*****************************************************************************
* 04. The Dragonborn ( DRB4444 ) *
*****************************************************************************
The game starts with a good bit of dialogue and looking around before you get
to select a race and name. If you are new to TES I would suggest going for any
warrior race (Orc, Redguard, Nord), or go with the Argonians for their health
power. The customization is quite deep and you can't make anything look too
bad, and there are some great preset options available. I would say just pick
a race, sex, slide the presets around, and edit a few key features like eye
shape, hair, nose, and move on; otherwise you could waste an hour crafting
something you really don't get to see too often.
*NOTE: Nord is the race of the region, so consider choosing it for the
preferential treatment, which isn't much but just know other races are
treated
much differently.*
Unbound
-------
*NOTE: Be sure to at some point turn on subtitles, brighten it a bit, and
slightly adjust the look sensitivity.*
After the scenes play out, follow the dude into the nearby doorway. Soon, Rolaf
will take you up the steps, and after a crashing you can jump into a roof
below. Go out the other side and then just follow Hadvar wherever he goes, but
you're not in too much danger so you can look around.
*NOTE: You can dual-wield 1H weapons, but you have no blocking.*
*NOTE: You can also use magic, and you can even dual-wield magic too.*
*NOTE: A good lesson is to know that some loot isn't worth taking, but then
again you are dirt poor so if you want anything you can carry, feel free.*
Once inside you can grab some gold on the table, a helm from a bed chest, two
swords off the walls, some wine, and then loot the highlighted chest for the
rest of it. If you notice you can equip stuff while looting, or press the Take
All button to equip in the menu yourself. Pull out your sword and take a few
swings to know how.
Follow Hadvar to the cell area where you will fight two enemies. They should
focus on Hadvar and let you damage them from behind, and if you're lucky you
can see a cool finishing move.
Now for a quick FYI section, you can block and hold the attack button for a
power move. You can loot the three corpses after the fight and you should find
that some of their armor will be better than yours (check the lower right
corner), and you can use any of three weapons. Best to go with an axe for the
quicker strikes. Again, the Take All option saves a bunch of time. Also, you
can press a button (B on the 360) and then move in any direction to quickly
bring up the map, items, magic, or skills tabs - very handy, and might I add
you should at least get a drink of how the skills menu looks. Feel free to
try a 2H weapon, as now is the time to experiment.
Back to the game, just follow Hadvar down to the next fight, so try to get
behind them and inflict damage. I'll tell you now about the carry weight,
which you can always see in the lower right corner of the screen. Everyone can
carry a maximum of 300 for now. All items will display a sell value and a
weight value. When you carry more than your weight carry limit you will be
unable to run. So with that in mind, loot the wine, potions, and don't forget
to open the cabinet and barrel.
When finished you will follow Hadvar to the torture chamber where he should
easily handle the two Stormcloaks. After the fight, loot the corpses, the
table in the middle of the room, and then be sure to grab the lockpicks and
books in the corner. You should have 6 lockpicks. Go to the middle cage and
attempt to pick the lock.
Picking locks is entirely different from Oblivion. What you do is rotate the
pick to a position and then try to turn the lock. If the pick starts to shake
you should let go of the lock and try another position. You have to be very
gentle when starting or else you may break the pick immediately. Think of it
like a red half circle with two medium blue strips around a small green strip.
You want to find the green part and put the pick in there, and anywhere else
will result in a broken pick if you turn the lock all the way.
*NOTE: I like to start at the top of the picking wheel. Sometimes that is the
spot. And there are plenty of locks to pick if you need practice.*
Opening the middle cage is essential for casters as it has some magic clothes
and a spell book. To read it and learn the spell, go to the books tab in your
menu. The final cell up the hall and to the right will have coins and a
skeleton to loot. There are many skeletons and a body to loot in the next room.
*NOTE: I dropped the three big 2-handed weapons, and my rule of thumb is to
keep only items that will sell for at around triple their weight value;
meaning I dropped the gloves and boots worth only 5.*
Hadvar should follow you, but I hit a glitch where he and the torturer were
frozen in the torture room. What I did for the enemies ahead was bring them
back to Hadvar to help. But he and the torturer's assistant should follow you
the rest of the way if all goes well. It shouldn't be a big deal if they
glitch, just use potions and run the enemies back to the torture room.
When you move up into the room, two archers should appear, so shield up and
move forward before opening up on them. Don't rush them too quickly as going
slow should provide time for one of them to slip away and hopefully leave you
with a one on one where you can line of sight the other one out of shooting
you. Loot them and you may want to make the bow as a favorite. Also, the arrows
don't weight anything and they should be auto-equipped. Using the favorite
option allows you to quickly swap in and out of weapons or spells easily. So
you should take the time to fav the following: bow, weapon of choice, flames,
healing, and whatever racial power you may have.
Pull the lever and head down into the stream, but be sure to take the left
path for some potions and coins by a skeleton. Come back and continue down the
stream to the marker for more coins. Head down the path and sneak with your
bow. There are three spiders you can single shot kill with sneak attacks, and
when you move up a bit two more should drop down; I was able to sneak kill all
five with arrows. After, feel free to loot the five egg sacs and the spiders.
Continue down the path and take the left side of the stream to find a wagon
with some coins and an iron helm nearby. Sneak to the left and past the bear,
OR just shoot him with two sneak attack arrows and he will die. Not too hard,
and then just leave the cave.
Before the Storm Part 1
-----------------------
Despite him saying you should split up, just follow him. Feel free to at any
time speak to him and hit up all the un-greyed topics. Down the winding trail
you will run into three magic stones, one for three main stat paths. The
warrior for combat, the mage for magic, and the thief for stuff like stealth,
speech, and daggers. Hopefully you got a taste of all three, but if you
didn't try magic out you just need to know that if you don't know how magic
will work in this game or in the last, you probably shouldn't go magic. The
Thief path is not easy, so if this is your first go at TES or any kind of real
time RPG, just go combat. And you can always re-role later or modify your
current build.
Back down the trail, three wolves will attack you at the bottom. Kill them and
take their valuable pelts. You will soon be in Riverwood, and after you meet
Alvar, enter his house. If you don't know, you can't steal stuff when your
target turns red and people are watching or else you will be in trouble. You
can sit at the end of the table and listen (take the gift if it triggers
before the chat option where it is supposed to). When you can ask questions,
he will offer the gift of a bunch of stuff you may or may not want, and then
just keep asking all the questions. You can take most of the stuff in here,
but some stuff will be stolen, so watch out. Sleep if you want it to be daytime
or night.
You can use the forge or table outside Alvar's house to craft or modifying
items. You probably can only change your shield and helm, so may as well.
Before you move on with whatever you plan on doing, be sure to sell off your
extra junk, but please keep your wolf pelts to turn into leather. There is
also a grindstone at the mill across the river, but you can't use it for
anything useful most likely.
*NOTE: Sometime soon you should level up. Just open the skills menu and upgrade
either your health, stamina, or magicka. Then you can put points into perks
within certain skills.*
Orgnar at the inn can tell you about a boy, a shrine, a love triangle, and he
will give you a note about a bounty.
Hod will work at the mill across the river, and you can help load wood if you
wish. It appears to be pointless to help, but it is cool to see at least once.
*NOTE: Though I believe it's a really good idea to follow this Dragonborn
main quest, you are free to do as you wish. This quest line will always be
here
for you. For instance, you can hop a carriage to Solitude and join the
Legion,
or go to Windhelm to join the Stormcloaks. There is a Mages College,
Thieves
Guild, Companions, Assassin's Guild, and endless dungeon diving; it's
up to you
where you go, but you'll see a good deal of what this game has to
offer by
following this main quest through.*
*NOTE: I would highly recommend at least getting the first shout, which you can
get if you go into Bleak Falls Barrow. You'll also need to complete the first
quest with a dragon and by doing so you will get to buy a house in Whiterun.*
*NOTE: Don't forget to refer to the standing stones section of this guide if
you want to change what you have.*
Bleak Falls Barrow ( aka The Golden Claw ) ( BLFB444 )
------------------
Location: Riverwood Trader, Lucan Valerius
*NOTE: At the time I didn't realize it, but doing this quest now is best
because the next quest in the main quest will have you going to this place
anyway. And since you need the claw to get in, this is the best way to go
about it.*
Enter the trading post and talk to the owner and ask about the problem. He
will give you the quest and then his sister will escort you to the edge of
town. You can talk to Camilla once she stops at the bridge, and then just head
toward the mountain.
*NOTE: If you are a magic user and low level, you can compensate the lack of
correct gear and perks by opening combat with bows. This will give you decent
starting damage and save some mana. You'll be a sneaky mage for a while, and
then you can run around recklessly.*
As you go up you want to look west and find the trail; check your map and mark
the objective to help. As you approach a guard will be waiting before a small
bridge and another should be inside the tower. Open up on the stationary one
with an arrow or magic and keep firing as much as you can before drawing your
weapon. Be sure to kill the damaged one first, then work on the other and watch
as the third one may show up. Enter the tower and grab the coins on the table.
Up the stairs you will kill one guy at the top of the tower and then you can
loot a chest. This is not the end of the quest, this was just a pit stop. Go
back out the front of the tower and find the path nearby that takes you to the
mountain top. Three enemies await, two of which will have bows. Try to get
close to the stones so you can have the archers out of sight, or at least one
of them. When killed, enter the cursed hall.
Bleak Falls Temple - There are two bandits in the first room. You can pick a
lock and loot some corpses. Feel free to rest for a temporary XP increasing
buff. There is an urn in the hallway, and ahead will be a bandit in a room.
Sit back and watch him pull a lever and get blasted.
Go in and look at the three symbols on the wall of the gate. There is a snake
and a dolphin on the wall, but on the floor is a snake. If we assume the floor
symbol came from the middle, go to the left and make the turnable wall symbols
go snake, snake, and dolphin. There is something on the shelf above, and when
you pull the lever you will have access to some items past the gate, but
careful as three Skeevers are coming up the stairwell. This is a good time to
use your flame power if you haven't. There are some items on the slab down the
steps, and you will hear a voice when you move up. When you turn the corner
there is webbing in the way, so chop it down.
*NOTE: Pulling back your bow all the way increases power.*
When you enter the room a giant spider will drop in. It's cheap, but the best
thing you can do is stay just beyond the doorway where the webbing was, and
just sling arrows at him; not even holding to pull the arrow back, just grip
and rip. If you position yourself correctly you can keep him frozen in front
of the doorway and he will just shoot a few web shots at you. Otherwise you'll
have to go in there and you would probably want to use your flames, but the
doorway trick is best.
After the cheap kill, loot the urns on the right, the eggs, web sacs, bodies,
and then go see the guy who is stuck. Talk and chop him down, and then promptly
chase him because what else did you expect to happen? Feel free to grab the
gold from an urn and a soul gem in the next room while chasing him; no real
rush anyway. He will stop in a room where four Draugr will rise up and kill
him. After they make quick work of him they will come after you. There is a
trap in the path leading forward, where you can see a pressure pad on the
ground and a swinging wall of spikes will fling out from nearby. You can try
to use that, flames, or just normal weaponry. They aren't too tough, so it
shouldn't be a hard fight however you do it.
The hard part is looting all the dead Draugr on the wall. You can tell they
are lootable if they are a bit more colorful. When you move on you should note
that if you can't loot a Draugr on the wall, that means it will animate. You
can get the first strike if you want, and there are three more that will rise
up further ahead, as well as one that you can poke awake if you want. Lots of
corpses to loot if you want, as well as a chest up the dead-end steps.
*NOTE: As is usual, past each bladed hallway is a lever to turn it off, which
there is a chain at the end of this one.*
Ahead will be the old swinging bladed hallway gag, so just try your best to
stop between each blade. In the narrow passage be ready for three undead, and
if you use your flames on the floor there seems to be oil that will catch fire
and burn them. Follow the path until you hit a room where a single undead
rises. Kill him, loot the chest, and then look for a chain to pull by the
steam that opens the path. Follow it through a cave, grabbing loot of course,
killing a Draugr, and then head down to path for more loot. Go back up and take
the cave path onward until you approach a room with a big Draugr. Try to get a
sneak shot on him, and then use flames and backpedal as much as you can while
burning him enough to finish him off with a strike or two. There is a chest and
then a door to a new area.
*NOTE: The oil ahead is optional.*
Bleak Falls Sanctum - Past the bladed hallway will be a Draugr and an archer.
Some items on the right and then try to sneak shot the third undead up the
steps. Go up and cross the bridge and follow the path all the way to a big
door. The solution is: bear, dragonfly, owl from out to in, and you just move
the rings by selecting them. No enemies are inside, go approach the altar, grab
the potion and loot the chest before using the glowing rune.
When you turn around and attempt to leave, the Draugr Overlord will rise and
he is tough. Quickly start roasting him with flames or get the jump on him
with some power attacks. You could also use the area on the right with the
steps, but you may have trouble with that yourself. Just flame him, kite him
around, and finish him with a few good strikes. Loot his mace and dragonstone,
and I can't stress enough how crucial it is for you to loot the stone. There is
a chest on the left side of the room, and then take the steps and path out,
grabbing the loot along the way. There was also a potion to the left as I
exited the cave.
You will emerge on the side of the mountain, so open your map and fast travel
back to Riverwood and turn the claw into Lucan to complete his side quest. Or
you could keep it to collect all of the dragon claws you will find in the game
for no other purpose than to have them.
If you are a caster, best to buy some spells in his book tab. I'll tell you
right now that oakflesh is a good alteration spell. The ward is a bit better,
but you have to keep casting it and therefore would need the resto perk to
reduce the cost. Get the oakflesh, maybe even if you aren't a caster.
*NOTE: By doing this before you are supposed to in the Dragonborn quest line,
you will miss a bit of dialogue upon returning the stone to Farengar. A bit of
a spoiler, it's the lady you will join forces with very soon.*
Before the Storm Part 2
-----------------------
After you are done in Riverwood, head out of town to the NE and head north to
Whiterun. You should run into a wolf and an assassin down the road before you
reach the Honningbrew Meadery; the assassin's note is an interesting read.
The meadery is of no use, and SE of the big town will be some farms with not
much to look at. But to the SW you should find a farm where some warriors are
fighting a giant - I wouldn't know as I was just told that I was of no use to
them, so apparently I missed it. Aela the Huntress should approach you after
the fight and talk about the Companions. Perhaps helping fight the giant would
make a nicer chat, but she should tell you to join in another town.
Getting into Whiterun requires approach from the SW side, going around a
winding path until you approach the gate. A guard will walk toward you and
there will be a few options. The pick anything you want, but the "Riverwood
needs help" option will work fine.
Speak to Idolaf if you wish. He will ask you questions, and you can ask what
he's talking about until he asks you to pick a side, so just go Battle-born.
Since I picked the wrong one by mistake I don't know of he says anything after.
There are a lot of things to do, but for now just go up the hill to meet the
jarl. If you run into Amren, feel free to get his 1H training and side quest.
At Dragonsreach, move up and let Irileth approach you. Say Riverwood sent you,
then that you only want to speak to the jarl, and then approach him. Just stand
there are the chat unfolds and he will eventually reward you.
Bleak Falls Barrow
------------------
The funny thing is, if you did the Golden Claw quest in Riverwood, you already
have the dragonstone. Refer to the section above if you are late to the party,
but the short of if is that if you go to the temple without visiting Lucan you
will still be able to get the claw and finish this quest at once. Just make
sure to take the claw back to Lucan after and before heading back to Whiterun.
If you already had the stone when starting the quest you will get some nice
kudos from the mage and the quickest quest completion you can get: instant.
Can you imagine some poor sap you couldn't and didn't want to carry that stone
and then has to go all the way back and tread an empty dungeon just to loot it?
LOL
Dragon Rising
-------------
Farengar won't reward you, so don't bother asking. Irileth will come grab you
guys and take you to see the jarl and you will learn of a nearby dragon
sighting. The jarl rewards you with a nice shield and the ability to own
property in town. Not sure if the less armor of an iron shield is a worthy
sacrifice for the 20% block damage, but may as well try the new shield for
yourself.
*NOTE: Save when you reach the tower.*
Follow Irileth outside and to the front gate to rally the troops. Then make
the long trek to the tower. All seems well, but when you approach the dragon
will be incoming. Enter the tower and climb the stairs to the top. The dragon
will land on the ground and burn the guards, but if you stand on the sides of
the tower (without falling) you can just sling arrows at it until it dies. It
should only make one or two passes over the tower and burn you a little, but
nothing you can't heal through or ignore. In the last part of the battle he
should land and stay on the ground, so disregard his fire from the ground and
keep firing. While he's in the air you should try for at least two shots, and
when he's on the ground you can grip and rip; and yes, you will shoot through
the banners fluttering in the wind.
Once it's dead, go down and loot it. After they are done gawking at you, use
your shout on an empty piece of land (not at anyone) and then Irileth will tell
you to go back to the castle. You can fast travel back to Whiterun and head to
the keep from there. A thunderous roar should ring through the sky as you head
back through the gate.
You should pick up a proper side quest if you stay to hear the Alik'r warrior,
but put that aside for now. It would be awkward if it was Adrianne they were
looking for, who should be to the right at the forge. Speaking of whom, go to
her and complete her easy tasks to create and modify items. But also pick up
her task of presenting a sword to the jarl.
So anyway, head back to the keep. Speak to the jarl and you will be told to
visit the Greybeards.
Way of the Voice
----------------
You now have a trusty servant and a 2H sword. Lydia is near the front door,
and you can talk to her if you want her to follow you; know that you can tell
her to return to her safe spot at any time, in case you fear for her life. With
Adrianne's sword, find Proventus, who may be in the porch behind the keep (use
the back doors), or at his bed in the jarl's quarters.
Now you may take the time to venture around Whiterun to meet the locals, pick
up some quests, join the Companions, and maybe venture out to complete the side
quests. When ready to continue the main story, fast travel to Helgen to the
south and go east. Along the trail you should run into a cave and an empty
alchemist shack, and you may even run into a horse that you can and should
steal to make the trip faster.
Enter the inn and ask everyone in there, and/or anyone outside. You should
gather that Klimmek is familiar with the Greybeards, there is a haunted barrow
nearby, you'll have a minor quest to gather 10 bear pelts, and if you seek
Narfi on the other side of the creek he will give you a minor quest too. Narfi
will have to go to Wilhelm at the inn. Wil will send you to the isle to the
east, BUT her remains are actually to the south of town, almost under the
bridge. Loot her corpse and bring the necklace back to Narfi who will give you
a nirnroot and jazbay.
*NOTE: If you want to know what the jazbay is good for, there is a farm owned
by Sarethi across the lake to the east. She grows nirnroot and uses the grapes.
She asks you to gather 20 jazbay for her.*
Klimmek may be found on the bridge leading out of town, so try to find him and
get the supplies for the Greybeards. There will be an ice wolf who you will
want to use your shout and have some armor and/or a shield on for. There will
be a regular wolf, and past the second pilgrim you will go up a long ascending
set of stairs in the snow and begin down a narrow passage before an ice troll
appears. You want to get as much damage on him as you can before he closes in
as he is incredibly tough and strong. Unless you are heavy armor specced you
won't be able to withstand his blows for long, and I'm not sure heavy armor
would help too much. You'll want to use flames and your shout, but you'll be
very slow if you try to use your bow. If you brought any allies they will most
surely die, and if you bring it back to the pilgrim she will surely die (though
her loot is not bad at all). Hope you have a lot of potions to fall back on,
but unless you are extremely strong you would probably be best served not to
try to melee this thing. Bows and flames are the way to go if you ask me, and
just keep going up and down the flight of stairs. It should stagger near death
and allow you to finish if off. Loot it and continue up the path. When you
reach the top, drop the supplies in the chest (in your misc. tab), and enter.
*NOTE: If you don't mind the cheapness of it, you could just run by it and into
the temple above. It should lose aggro on you but it certainly won't follow
you inside.*
Arngeir will speak to you, and when you are told, shout at him. When a rune is
on the floor you should approach it. Your shout will now be stronger if you
hold it. Use your stronger version on the three dummies that appear in the
middle of the room. Then follow Borri outside.
Look at the rune, absorb the power to use it, equip it (and fav it), and then
watch as they demonstrate how whirlwind works. It's basically a hyper dash
ability, so perform it when the gate opens for you and you'll have it.
The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller ( USTE444 )
-----------------------------
Don't even think about going up the rest of the steps. I'm thinking you could
steal every thing from these people and they wouldn't care, but you will be
able to take it legally after this quest, so hold off on that. With the
supplies delivered, be sure to stop by Ivarstead to get your gold from Klimmik
(though if he is doing it for free and paying you 750 gold he must really be
unselfish). Go to the stables outside Whiterun and pay the carriage to take
you to Morthal. From there you just go NE across some swampland.
Once you make the trip to Ustengrav, sneak into the pit from the south and go
in. There are some bodies to loot as you head into the big first room. Two
necromancers are putting dead slaves to work, but let them go for a while until
they start talking to each other. Soon they will flee further into the cave to
fight undead. Loot the table and follow the tunnel. The Draugr should win, but
whoever is left should have little to no health. There is tons of loot,
including some on the right in an alcove. There are two rooms to the left with
tons of urns and other loots. Be sure to grab the necromancer's robes which
should have a 75% magicka regen enchant.
Down the next hall you can take a tunnel on the right to some gold on a table
and come back. In the next room will be one weakling to pop out of a coffin on
the wall, and there is a restless and two more further back. Feel free to snipe
them from the tunnel. Loot and go up the steps for loot near the shelf before
heading into the next area.
Ustengrav Depths - Down the steps is an undead archer. Sprint over the pad in
the tunnel to avoid the fire trap. There is a Draugr below and a restless who
should be patrolling around. Kill them and there isn't much look except for in
the area to the left. Take the steps on the other side of the room and you will
arrive at a room that looks deserted. To the left will be two locked gates.
Pull the one switch, and the next one is by the coffin on the left, but when
you get close two Draugr will emerge. Kill them, pull the switch, and go loot
the closet with an enchanting table.
Make your way to the next huge cavern. There are pairs of skeletons down to
the left, so proceed with caution. There is a chest behind the fire trap, two
skeletons around the corner, and one more on the floor area. Now go back up the
ramp you took to get down. Look up and notice there are some columns with
broken walkways. If you go back up the ramp you can jump to some rocks on the
wall and get on the first pillar. Jump to the second and around the side you
will need to use your whirlwind rush to make the gap. Let it recharge and shoot
to the next pillar, and from there you can reach a hidden room with a chest and
gem under the Draugr.
*NOTE: You can't rush in the air or while jumping.*
Now follow the paths down to pick up a glyph on a wall for Fade. There is a
chest at the back of this pit, and then a secret area behind the waterfall with
one Draugr.
*NOTE: Sprint is LB on the 360.*
Come back up and look to the east to find an area with a skeleton. Kill it,
loot the area up top, and come back down. Look at the three stones on the floor
and they will light up when you are near. You need all three lit to open the
hall, but even if you sprint you won't make it. You'll need to use your rush
power to get through the first gate and keep sprinting. You basically use it as
you pass the last stone and you should make it. I'm pretty sure the gates
behind you will open as they will all open once you make it all the way
through.
Note the pressure pads in the room ahead. They aren't working until you pass
through the narrow part. Just stay on the rubble and hop to the next room.
Snipe the two spiders and make your way to the left, sneak onto the raised
part, and a giant spider will drop. You may want to just stay hidden and hope
it will be dumb enough to get on the active flame pads on the floor. You could
then fall back and snipe it to death. There are corpses and some eggs to loot.
Chop through the webbing to reach the final room. Loot the sides and below it,
and then pick up the note. The next room is filled with loot. Then make your
way back and out. Get to safe spot (you can try to wait to see if it's safe)
and fast travel back to Riverwood.
Go in and talk to Delphine to rent the attic room. Enter the room and wait.
Follow the person who arrives. We still haven't turned this quest in, so it's
not officially over yet.
---
When you do turn the quest in, the Greybeards will complete your Unrelenting
Force shout. Hold the shout button and you will unleash a massive blast wave.
And that's it for the old men. You will then be able to take everything you
want from High Hrothgar.
A Blade in the Dark
-------------------
Location: Sleeping Giant Inn, Riverwood, Delphine
Follow her down and have a good long chat. Agree to help her crazy theory, and
then loot the room of everything, including that katana on the wall. Also, you
can now take anything else in the inn. Outside she will tell you to either
follow her or meet her there. Be sure to sell some stuff at the store. Feel
free to complete the horn quest for the Greybeards; their progress with you
will be complete for now.
*NOTE: If you have 5000 gold stashed away, feel free to buy the house in
Whiterun from Proventus to store stuff, but you'll also need 300 gold for a
bedroom to have a chest. Also, if Lydia is still alive and loyally waiting at
Dragonsreach, she will go to your new home.*
Use the carriage guy at Whiterun to take you to Windhelm, and from there go
south. You may have to wind around the hill if you want to hit the inn first,
but your goal is to get up the hill to the dragon. Delphine is to the west,
hiding behind a rock, so find her and wait with her as a dragon is brought to
life. Sahloknir is just a regular dragon, like a random one you may have
encountered in the wild. Hopefully he will land often and attack Delphine so
you can hit his backside. Keep your bow ready for any time he is still, and
feel free to go up to melee or cast on him if he isn't targeting you,
otherwise turn and run. His breath attack is not too damaging - actually, a
few big enemies in a narrow corridor is scary than this guy.
After it is over, loot the dragon and speak to Delphine.
Diplomatic Immunity
-------------------
Location: Kynsegrove hill
Meet her back at the inn in Riverwood. Chat in her secret lair and then you
need to go to the Whiterun stables to secure a carriage ride to Solitude in
the NW.
Solitude is a massive city of the Empire. If your first time there, there will
be an execution nearby, and then you can enter the tavern on the left. Feel
free to sit and chat with Malborn. After you confirm you will have the option
to give him your weapons and armor, which you should give him whatever you are
currently wearing and maybe some potions. Leave and head to the farm outside
the city. Talk to Delphine, put on the party clothes and boots she gives you,
unequip all your other armor and weapons, talk to her again to give her all
your items, and then get on the carriage.
Note the odd fellow who will follow you inside after you show your invitation
to the guard. Inside you'll chat with the Thalmor ambassador, and then you can
go meet Malborn at the bar. He requires you to cause a scene, somehow. Your
friend Razelan from outside will be sitting on a bench, so talk to him. Feel
free to talk to every other guest. Then go visit the elf servant and ask for a
drink. Bring that drink to Razelan and he offers to help, so take him up on it
and ask him to cause a scene and he will agree. Let him begin his toast and you
can turn to meet Malborn behind the bar and slip behind a door.
He will take you to a chest where any gear you gave him will be waiting. Sneak
through the door and you have two options: fight your way to the destination or
sneak. There is a sneaking potion in this hall, at the end, and you could let
the guards finish talking before moving into their room and taking the stairs
up. Should be able to sneak around the mage, but think about going right first
to loot a dining room of potions and goods. When you go left there are more
potions in the room before you take a door outside.
Now it is very cheap, but you could aggro all the enemies and slip into the
door and you should be safe; and even if they did follow you maybe you could
just hide. The normal guards aren't too tough, but the battle-mage is very
strong. Don't forget your shout, and if you somehow forgot to smuggle your gear
in and have nothing, feel free to magic burn someone and steal their armor and
make a break for the door.
In the "solar" you need to go up and into a desk area to the left. There you
will loot a chest, and then you can take the nearby steps down and into the
dungeon (the other marked door leads to the same dungeon, and you'll see it
matters not which one you take). You will arrive above a torture room, so slip
down (there is a mace under a table nearby). You can then sneak and loot the
chest and slip away if you want. Or you could sneak attack the guy in the
chair, finish him first, and then kill the torturer. Loot their bodies and go
talk to the victim in the cell. Free him and he will act just like Gollum and
lead you to the hatch nearby. When he's there, choose the "hold on..." option
to advance the story.
What happens next is two guards will enter with Malborn as a prisoner. The only
way to open the hatch is to kill one of those guards and take their key, or
maybe pick their pocket. Trust me when I say it matters not if you save Malborn
- in the most douchebaggery way, he is guaranteed to die. To make yourself feel
better you can attack them head-on to make them focus on you, but you may as
well kill Malborn yourself, so doesn't matter if you spare him. Loot the guards
and use the key on the hatch. If you have Malborn, kiss him goodbye because he
wants a piece of the ice troll ahead and he is going to die. You may as well
let Malborn play decoy and slip around it or use your shout to make a break for
the exit; the log on the left is an escape route too.
Talk to the guy outside if you want, and you can see him again if you wish.
You can fast travel to wherever, but eventually return to Delphine at
Riverwood. Explain what you can and she will send you to Riften to the far
SE corner of Skyrim. Your equipment is in the chest on the left.
A Cornered Rat
--------------
Location: Riverwood inn, Delphine
Again, hit up the carriage in Whiterun to take you to Riften. If your first
time here the guard will try to get some coin off you, but hopefully you can
persuade him otherwise or at the very worst pay a little gold. Maul should
stop you and he will also want to charge you for information, but hopefully
you can persuade him otherwise and you could ask him about all three factions.
You can only meet Brynjolf during the day in the market up ahead. Maybe you
can persuade him to not make you do is first quest, but we'll cover it in the
likely event you do.
A Chance Arrangement - Madesi's stall is to the SW, which is just left of where
Bryn will start talking (feel free to untrack the main quest and track this
one to help you know where to go). You should sneak and open the door under and
behind the stall when undetected, and then pick the lock on the box when
undetected. Shouldn't be too hard, and then you need to sneak behind the dark
elf who is sitting on the box, pick his pocket, and give Madesi's ring to him.
Bryn's presentation will end and you can go talk with him. He will complete
this quest and start "Taking Care of Business" which will continue you down the
path toward joining the Thieves Guild.
But for our purposes we don't need to worry about that now, just talk to him
again and ask him about the old man. You are told he is hiding in the Ratway,
which is the sewer. You'll find an entrance in the canals. Try to sneak by the
guys in here, but if you must kill them I suppose it's no big deal. Follow the
path and drop into a pit, and pick the lock on the left; it's tough, but worth
it. Then if you can sneak by the guy in the next room you will be safe at the
thieves' den.
You can approach Bryn at the bar to update your initiation quest into the
Thieves Guild, and be sure to ask about the three targets for further details
which will be saved for later. Go into sneak mode and take the door at the back
leading to the vaults. There are just three enemies in here total. The area is
three levels with a few side rooms that are all connected. It may be hard to
sneak as the Thalmor are very good at seeing you, but they also don't seem to
be too strong. Try to get a snipe on the one on the top level without looking
over the edge below, and try to kill him before the others arrive. Kill them,
loot everything (including a room with a lot of loot on a table), and take the
door at the bottom to the Warrens.
There is one guy in the first cell who is not hostile. If you pick the lock of
the door on the floor you will reveal a crazy lady who will also aggro a crazy
chef to come after you. Go up and knock on the door to meet Esbern. Go in when
he opens the door and chat it up. He will eventually agree to come with you to
meet Delphine. Be sure to loot his chest, grab a dagger by his bed, and a few
poitions (interesting book about trolls if you want to bring it or read it).
If you wait around a while or as you come out, a pack of Thalmor will appear
and possibly some guy named Gissur who has an interesting note on you. Esbern
will be able to kill everyone, even the deaf lady - since she's been rambling
outside his home for years and now that he's leaving he figures he will pay her
back, lol. Once clear, head back out and the vaults will be clear. If you
didn't clear the first area on your way down, Esbern will help you clear the
way out. Just kill the lowlife in the first room, go up to the right and pull
a lever to drop a bridge, and then cross over to fight what should be Shavari
and the two at the front if they are still alive.
*NOTE: If you're wondering, the other path to the left leads to the rest of
the Ratways, which is a fairly decent dungeon crawl. Also, just make it back
to the surface if Esbern gets stuck after being knocked down.*
Alduin's Wall
-------------
Location: Ratway Warrens, Riften, Esbern
Once you get Esbern out of the sewers, fast travel back to Riverwood. After
the chat, take that book and just say to arrive separately at the next place.
Note the chat she has on her way out; which unofficially allows you to have
this place as a home.
Karthspire is way to the west, so take a carriage to Markarth if you've never
been and just head east from there. If you go into Markarth, be sure to kill
the assassin in a white shirt before he kills the lady.
Just follow the road and cross a bridge and Delphine and Esbern will be
waiting for you. A dragon was also waiting for me, and with the Forsworn mob
up ahead, hilarity ensued. The dragon made me go across the river and up the
hill as it fought the head witch. The dragon was killed and the powerful witch
was left. Meanwhile, my two allies were busy killing all the Forsworn on the
dock. They eventually went to fight the witch, and you should have any frost
resist you have as you pummel her.
I suppose the correct way this plays out is Delphine tells you to lead them on
against the mob, so however you have to do it, clear the area and reach the
Karthspire.
Inside you will kill three enemies, grab some potions on the left, and head
west. Turn the stones to the heart-shaped dragons and cross the bridge. At the
pressure plate room, just follow the dragon symbols to reach the chain on the
statue and pull it to deactivate the trap. Loot the chest in the next room,
use the blood seal on the floor, and enter the temple.
Sky Haven Temple - Just wait for them to enter and follow Esbern. After you get
your new orders, find the chests in here; one which is loaded and has a book
with a skill-up nearby and then a room with a bunch of chests that only have
gold.
The Throat of the World
-----------------------
Location: Sky Haven Temple, Delphine
Take the steps behind the wall to reach a perch outside, and from there you can
port to High Hrothgar. Talk to Arngeir and he will turn you away, but wait and
he will agree to help you. Follow them outside and look at each glyph to learn
the parts of the shout "clear skies." Equip it and use it to pass through the
wind shear. From then on you need to clear smog and fight three ice wraiths
on your way to the top. After you clear another wind shear you will meet
Paarthurnax.
He will burn a glyph for you to read, and he will tell you to use it on him.
You may pass most of the game day listening to the rest of his chat.
Elder Knowledge
---------------
Location: Throat of the World, Paarthurnax
You have two optional objectives: speak to Arngeir or Esbern. Visit Arngeir
who will tell you to go to Winterhold, and Esbern is on the perch of Sky Haven
Temple most of the time. You don't need to bother seeing both, but you may want
to hit up Esbern as he may recount a dream he had. Take a carriage to
Winterhold far in the NE. To Hogwarts!
The college is accessed via a long bridge, and if your first time you will run
into Faralda. She will want to test you to gain entry, and you can try to
persuade her otherwise, or name-drop dragonborn and she will want you to show
off a shout. So just use one away from here and she will let you through, but
I imagine another option is to use your other magical powers. A guard should
also momentarily bother you for using a shout.
Also, a courier should drop off a letter to you sometime soon. Open your books
tab and it's the "Letter from a friend." Read it to get a tracker for a quest
somewhere else.
Follow Faralda from a distance as to not have her chat with you the whole time,
and she will light the beacons on the bridge that will open the gate for you.
Find Mirabelle and agree to take the tour. Just follow her and you'll complete
the first quest of the "Mages Guild," which I suppose is the Mages College in
this game.
First Lessons is short. You just attend Tolfdir's class where you use a ward
spell, maybe only if you choose the "something practical" option. I had one,
but if you don't I assume he will teach you one. Be sure to stand in front
of him until he says "now cast your ward" and then just hold it until he hits
you. That will be it, and next you'll meet at a dig site to continue the
college questline.
However, for our purposes, enter the Arcanaeum and find Urag gro-Shub who you
can get two more side quests for. Ask him about the elder scrolls and name-drop
dragonborn again to further the narrative. He will get two books for you and
put them on the counter. Read the left one first, which talks about those who
read it and the effects the scrolls have on them; the book on the right is
mostly ramblings and will advance the quest. Talk to Urag about Signus and you
will have your next location.
*NOTE: Though this quest isn't officialy over, it will be after the next.*
Discerning the Transmundane ( DTAB444 )
---------------------------
Location: Winterhold College, Urag
*NOTE: This is sort of the ultimate quest to end all quests. It combines the
main story with a big reveal with a Daedric God quest, mixed with some of
the most amazing scenery you've seen from an Elder Scrolls game. I mention this
just so you know this is possibly a two-night quest.*
The location is to the north of Winterhold, in what appears to be uncharted
land. As you leave the college, look to the right as you near the end of the
bridge and you should see a path leading down. Follow that path, hop the ice
across, and you'll reach an isle. Skytemple Ruins will be at the top of the
rock formation. There are five skeletons to clear if you want to mark the ruins
on your map, but DO NOT open the door as you will face a very powerful boss
enemy. Just mark the ruins and continue north.
May be two bears in the area, so either avoid or be ready to dance with them.
I believe the horkers are harmless, and they sure are weak because those bears
will attack them and they killed like 10 of them, lol. Anyway, Signus' place is
just across the pond. Enter his outlook and go down to talk with him to learn
that you need this and that to open this and that so you can open this and
that.
With the quest updates, go to Winterhold. Check the map to know that you need
to visit Alftand, to the SW of Winterhold in the mountains. You can go south
out of town and find a path leading west which should be guarded by a bear,
some wraiths, and wolves. You should also be able to go west from Winterhold
and go south, as there is a series of wooden walkways that will lead you up to
the ruins. There is also a ruined house at the top with a chest. Then take the
path down and enter the ruins.
*NOTE: Feel free to turn up the brightness.*
Glacial Ruins - A chest at the start, and as the snow turns to stone you will
be in for quite a surprise around the corner. Be on the lookout for pots that
are the dwarven chests. On the table will be two books, some gems, and two
dwarven spiders to examine. When you move to the left a spide should be nearby
or emerge, so be ready. Up the ramp will be another spider waiting. Look for
an alcove with a chest, satchel, purse, potions, and loose coins.
*NOTE: Seems like sneaking doesn't work well on these machines.*
Down the hall a spider will drop on you. J'darr is hostile, so feel free to get
the jump on him. Loot him and the other cat corpse, read the journal, look in
the pack, don't miss the potions, and loot the top of the barrel nearby. Up
ahead you will be entering the thick of the dwarven structure. Around the bend
will be what looks like an open crossing, but when you get close the two
spheres on either side on the floor will rise up as enemies. There is some
oil on the ground, but just be sure to fight one at a time. Around the corner
will be some loot on a table, and then ride the pistons up to reach a ledge
with a chest and other loot.
In the next room, be careful as two spiders will eventually drop in both
corners. Kill them, feel free to use the forge, and open the locked door to
open up two chests. Through the other door will be a spider on either side, so
go right first to get a chest, get the chest in the fork, and go left. There
is a room on the left with some potions and beds. Further up will be locked
door on the right, so open it and get the jump on the sphere; the chest should
have an interesting item inside. There is a spider to the right at the next
fork up the steps, and a potion on the table. Further up the hall will be the
top of the area you cleared earlier. Just hop over the pistons and where the
light shines just hop on a piston as two spiders appear. They can't reach you
from atop a piston, so range them to death and head into the next area.
Alftand Animonculory - The room on the left has some items. In the big room
will be a spider to the right. Sneak into a crawlspace on the floor to find a
dead guy and his journal near a chest. Up the steps will be a sphere with some
oil to catch fire, and your fire breath seems to work nicely, and another bug
will appear too. Some loose junk around, and when you go up the steps you must
avoid the pressure pads or a blade will come at you. Also, feel free to loot
the egg sacs.
In the spiral path ahead, there is a spider in an alcove who guards a chest.
Go down and unlock the door on the right, kill the spider, loot the side, and
if you can open the locked door you will have access to a chest, a book, and
a master chest you surely can't open unless fully LP specced. Drop down the
spiral path and grab the potion by the dead person. There are Falmer below, so
feel free to sneak. There is also a chest at the end of the dead end path, just
watch for the piston. There are more Falmer guarding the next door, so snipe
them and watch out for the rat and spider when you move down. Go around the
fire of course.
In the next room there are two Falmer, so get a good sneak attack. Mostly
junk in this room, and an alchemy table. The next room has three Falmer among
the fire and oil, but I just sniped them all. Not much else but a difficult
chest in one of the huts. In the next room will be a small alcove to the left
which should have a dagger on a table. In the torture floor you will have
three enemies and a bunch of loot. Don't miss the satchel by the lift and there
are a few items on the table like a lockpick, but may be worth more trouble
than you want. Don't worry about the lift, it only takes you up.
Move through and open the door. Below are three Falmer and one normal spider.
Try to snipe them all. No loot, so move through the door below, avoid the trap
on the floor, and take the next door to the cathedral.
Alftand Cathedral - A potion on the table in front, and a Falmer by the next
door. Go through and there are two Falmer and one spider to the right. There
are chests down both sides, and then turn and take the steps above the entry
door to find two chests. Pull the lever up here and you can go to the
cathedral. Sneak if you can as you go up the steps as a Dwarven Centurion will
animate on the left. If you can sneak and use bows, back up and just pop him
as you back up and he shouldn't be any trouble. Loot the lift key and all his
treasure, and from his dead ally. There are two chests, both on the right at
the start and back of the area before opening the gate.
When you open the gate, two dungeon divers will do battle. They are both
hostile toward you, so you can activate the button and run to the next area, or
you can let one of them win and finish him/her off. When ready, use the key
and enter Blackreach.
Blackreach - There is a dwarven sphere ahead, so sneak up and use the lever to
send a bolt directly at it. There is a Falmer on either side if you go left
or right from here. After that, this is just a massive area where you can go to
any number of other areas through one of the many doors. You may want to find
a Crimson Nirnroot to get a quest to keep in the back of your mind; fyi, there
are tons of these red plants here. Also, if your bags are full like mine were,
feel free to go to the left corner, push the button to open the gate, take the
lift up, and with the Great Lift of Alftand on your map you can fast travel
to a place to clear bag space. You don't really need much space unless you
plan to pick up all the nirnroot you can. If you are stealth you can finish
this quest up without fighting anything. Clearing space now is not a bad idea
if you want to just continue the story after. Either way, I require you to at
least use the lift to get it marked on you map (which should help in the
part soon to come).
*NOTE: 30 crimson nirnroot are required to complete the side quest, but we
can do that later.*
Traversing Blackreach is fairly dangerous. I know you want to avoid the
center area as there is a wispmother among what seem like harmless fireflies,
but they are all enemies. There are Falmer scattered about, and along the
roads will be a few Centurions patiently waiting. The road going SE seems the
best to reach the river that will lead you to the door you need to open. I
snuck the whole way, so if you aren't a ninja you better be careful. Enter the
Tower of Mzark.
Tower of Mzark - No enemies. Lot of items in this room, including a book and
potion. In the next room go left and up the ramp. There is just a journal by
a dead guy on the floor. Go to the console up top and insert the cube into the
marked part. Then you should be able to go from right to left and push the
buttons until the next one turns blue, then push that button and so on; it
should work that way without having to return to a button. After the fourth is
pushed they will all turn grey. Grab the cube and then go grab the elder scroll
from the machine. Use the lift.
*NOTE: The quest "Elder Knowledge" is now officially complete."
You'll emerge topside, so head back to Signus to the north. Give him the cube
and then ask him about his fascination. When you come up you can talk to a
strange abyss. There is no sense in at least saying you'll help it later.
*NOTE: You could go head up to the mountain right now, but you may level twice
if you finish this quest out. Recall that the elder scroll is for the main
quest and the rest is just for Signus' sake.*
The Price of Five - You must now kill an orc, a Falmer, and each of the elf
races to advance.
Falmer - Return to Blackreach and visit any of the Falmer you may
have killed. You should be able to return using the great lift, but
either lift works.
Orc - I know there were two at Dustman Cairn, which was the second
quest of the Companions, who are the fighter's guild of this game and
based in Whiterun.
Wood Elf - Swindler's Den is a respawning dungeon. I cleared it after
the In My Time of Need side quest, and when I returned it was refilled
with more bandits. It's SW of Dustman's Cairn, or just go pick up the
side quest and resume it since you should have it by default in doing
the main quest. There was also an orc in here, but I assume the races
of the bandits are random.
High Elf - Return to Ustengrav and the first necromancer, the stronger
one, should have been a high elf.
Dark Elf - Return to Ustengrav and I believe the necromancer before
you enter is a dark elf. There should be a corpse not far inside too.
Beyond that I'm not sure what to tell you. If you are really impatient and are
prepared to eat the consequences, I suppose you could go around towns hunting
people down, but no telling if you'll kill someone involved in a quest. I say
just comb the land looking for dungeons if you must. You may want to start
with some quests or minor quests you have.
But the best thing to do if you can't find them now is to just continue the
main quest. The reward for finishing this is quite big though.
When you have the blood, return to Signus. Give the blood to the guy and
follow him. Loot the body and then pick up the book. Turn to leave and speak
to the abyss again, and no harm in being agreeable. After you are free, open
the book again and you can choose to upgrade either your combat skills, your
thief skills, or your magic skills. I say go combat or magic, regardless if you
are a thief. You may level up twice.
Alduin's Bane
-------------
Location: Tower of Mzark
I suppose you could have come straight here from the tower, but the blood
quest was a fun diversion nonetheless. Return to the Throat of the World when
you get the elder scroll from the tower in the previous quest.
Feel free to bring your best max health increasing potions, health potions,
regeneration potions
Listen to Paar and then go to the marker. Open your books and read the scroll,
and enjoy the scene (you just watch).
When you regain full control, quickly open your magic menu and equip and fav
your Dragonrend shout. Alduin will appear, and hold down the shout as soon as
he stops and starts talking.
This will make him fly around and land. I've seen him get up and fly around a
bunch before landing, and I've seen him stay on the ground the whole fight. If
you do try to go range, watch out for the fireballs that fall about halfway
through.
I had a sword called dragonbane, I believe from the Sky Temple, which came in
handy here. I threw on a bunch of potions, but not sure if they all stuck. I
had a one-handed buff, health buff, stamina buff, and as much as I could I
opened the menu to down some healing potions and/or throw on any poison, and
sometimes using a stamina potion. I just bashed him with my sword over and
over, pausing at times. No need to get fancy and try to hit his sides as he
can daze you which will render your shout ineffective. Of course you want to
use your Dragonrend as often as possible. I don't think it does a ton of damage
to him, but it at least stuns him a bit. You really need to be careful if your
health gets low as he can finish you off with about 5-10% left.
If you are range, I guess any fire (possibly frost, I forget) resistance you
can throw on and wards against fire will help. Regardless of range of melee,
wouldn't hurt to use some mana on a summoned ally if it doesn't cost too much.
As a melee fighter I didn't touch my mana pool, so a conjured friend as he
lands may be a wise move.
The Fallen Part 1
-----------------
Location: Throat of the World, post-Alduin fight
Once you defeat him for now, climb the rock to talk to Paar. No need to visit
the humans unless you really want to hear their meaningless insights.
Return to Whiterun and Dragonsreach. Speak to the Jarl and your persuasion
most likely won't work, so you'll have to agree to ask the Greybeards to help
form a truce with the warring parties.
Season Unending ( SEAU444 )
---------------
Location: Dragonsreach
*NOTE: Not sure what it may mean if you are in the process of joining either
side, so if you have you should not be surprised if you progress in this
quest is stalled for those quests. I believe getting to the point of the
Battle
for Whiterun means you will have to resolve the civil war, which should
in turn
conclude negotiations and advance this quest forward.*
*NOTE: If you have the quest to kill Paarthurnax and did so, you will have to
settle the civil war yourself by joining and faction and completing their
quest
line.*
*NOTE: Remember, carriage ride if you haven't been to Windhelm yet.*
Teleport to High Hrothgar and speak to Arngeir. Now you must find Ulfric and
General Tullius. Ulfric is at Castle Windhelm, but I suppose that if it's your
first visit you can hear a long chat with Ulfric and Galmar about the war. When
you first speak to him you should just go along with agreeing to want to join
up, and then you can speak of the Greybeards. I just told him Tullius hasn't
agreed yet, and that Tullius will look weak if he doesn't show up.
General Tullius is at Castle Solitude, and just like the first visit to Ulfric
the general should have a chat about the war too. He should just refer you to
his commander about joining the Legion. But talk about the Greybeards and I
just mentioned that Ulfric agreed and that make Tullius agree.
Fast travel to High Hrothgar and speak to Arngeir. Have a seat and soon the
party will begin. You will first need to decide what to do with the Thalmor,
and I just chose to have her leave. Next you will have to decide the traded
city for Markarth, or at least I did, and I agreed to Tullius preference to
Riften; he still seemed cheated in the next thing he said, so either way it
will probably work. Next, Tullius wanted compensation for a massacre, and I
agreed to it.
*NOTE: I would not be surprised if the items brought up change with some
quests you've completed or with quests to join either side.*
Both sides then had something they wanted and they will agree. When you are
leaving, Esbern and Delphine will have some troubling news about Paar, to
which you will have a new quest.
Paarthurnax
-----------
Location: High Hrothgar, Esbern or Delphine after the meeting
(OPTIONAL)
You are to kill Paarthurnax. He is fairly weak when you fight him.
You only have a brief window to perform this, which is between now and the
beginning of the next quest. Seems a bit odd to kill him now, but you can. As
a note, there really isn't anything different about the ending, and once you
finish this quest line, this quest will disappear. I believe you can pick this
up before the meeting, and by completing this
before the meeting you will
enrage Arngeir and you will be forced to settle
the civil war on your own.
If you do not kill him then I believe Esbern and Delphine will no longer be
friendly to you and you can't sell Esbern your dragon pieces.
It's your call, but you have a short time to decide. And given the scene with
Paar at the end of this quest line you may be better served letting him live.
The Fallen Part 2
-----------------
Location: High Hrothgar
Return to Dragonsreach. Talk to the Jarl and then head to the back. Get your
"Call Dragon" shout ready and head to the balcony and use it. Odahviing will
appear soon, and it seemed like a bug that he would not lose health or follow
me, so I just stood inside the castle as he flew around and tormented the
guards. I waited for the shout cooldown to finish so that I could use
Dragonrend. It took a few minutes to recharge, and when it did I used it on him
when he stopped to breathe fire. Then he landed and followed me as I ran back
to the door. I'm not sure if it was a minor glitch, but hopefully he will at
some point follow you, and I'm not sure if Dragonrend is the key. You can
hide behind the walls of the steps as he approaches and is trapped.
Move up and he will speak to you. Chat it up and agree to let him free. Exit
your chat and go tell the guard to set him free. Go to Odah and he will
fly you to Savngarde.
*NOTE: If you are a low level character, meaning below 20ish, you should be
warned that there is a valuable treasure that you may find hard to obtain.
The thing is, you can only get it during this quest and never again. So, if
you don't have an over-powered combat build you may want to consider leveling
up a bit to ensure you can get the dragon priest mask. The mask is heavy
armor with destro and resto buffs, so it itself may be worthless in value, but
it is part of an unofficial side quest to get 8 other masks. As an archer at
level 40 I face-rolled the priests (they are all pretty much the same) but
as a level 10 mage it took half an hour of sneaking and archery to kill one.
Never mind the two dragons and numerous other enemies who will be protecing
this priest. So you have been warned.*
The World-Eater's Eyrie
-----------------------
Location: Dragonsreach Porch, Odahviing
*NOTE: You better save your game.*
*NOTE: Higher level characters may find it easier to stand and fight than
lowbies.*
The area is not secure. Ahead are a bunch of Draugr and I believe at least two
dragons who will attack you as you try to make your way to the temple ahead.
Now I wasn't really interested in fighting, so I just ran past everything, went
around a corner, hopped up a broken part of the steps, and jumped into the
temple before taking any real damage while running; I took a lot of damage
trying to kill a dragon so I realized it wasn't going to happen.
Inside the temple are a few potions and some urns. Up the left path you should
see some pressure pads and a waiting Draugr ahead. Killing him with stealth
will draw the attention of a nearby undead, and there is a third to the right.
There are plenty of urns in the middle of this part. Move up and there will
be another Draugr. He's the only one at first, but after he is dead there
will be four more to appear from coffins on the side. You can stealth kill
all of them if you want. Turn the pillars to have all eagles facing north, and
when you pull the lever the right door should open to reveal a chest. Then
turn the middle pillar once to have a snake in the middle and pulling the
lever should open the left door to let you proceed.
Ahead will be a small alter room with one Draugr below. Don't try to sneak
up on him because another zombie will appear and blow your cover, so just go
for ranged kills on him. You may want to lure all three up the steps and
shout them back because falling at distance will hurt more. Grab the chest and
the urns before heading forward. There are spiders in the hall, but nothing
too difficult. When you reach a door, look in the webbing to the right for a
hidden chest.
Through the door will be two Draugr. There's an urn and chest on the floor.
There are three pillars: two on the top and one on the floor. From left to
right they should show: dolphin, snake, eagle - matching the symbol and
direction of the symbols near them. Open the urns before you take the door.
There are three archers in the room ahead. Clear them and go up and around.
When you reach a room with a winding staircase, watch for the pressure pad
that will drop a fire on the oil and shoot darts. There are urns and a shelf
before you go up. In stealth, open the door and a Draugr will drop from a
coffin, so stand back and shoot an arrow to drop the fire on the oil. This
should burn him and a pal or two of his in there, then take them all out as
you wish. There's a chest and lever.
The lever opens the path, and through it you will notice oil ahead, so look
carefully at the floor and avoid the trap triggers that look like gears. Take
the stuff in the chest and up the next corridor will be a boss Draugr waiting.
He is probably easy fodder if you are stealth and archery specced, but however
you defeat him, take his key. Open your Misc. item tab and examine the claw
to see the pattern. From top to bottom it should go wolf, dragonfly, dragon,
and then insert the key in the door. There are two skeletons to search, a new
shout to learn, a room to plunder, and then a door leading back outside.
Just run left, turn the corner, go up the steps, and run into the portal. If
you do this you will skip the fight with the dragon priest Nahkriin and forfeit
completing the unofficial quest to gain all the dragon masks. He uses ice
spikes and summons minions, and you may want to get your best hits in on him
as you see him and before he grabs his staff. You will also, of course, want
to clear any and all enemies before you take him on. Kill everything, kill him,
grab the mask, and hop in the portal. Or just jump in from the start to avoid
all the hassle, but you'll never be able to get that mask.
Sovngarde
---------
You can just follow the path, and no need to worry about clearing the mist.
A dead guy will talk to you, but he doesn't seem to follow you. Just keep to
the path and you will eventually hit a clearing to the left (not the first one
leading up the mountain). There you will see a guy up ahead, but be sure to
flask up on any buffs you want. He swings hard, so any armor potions you have
and maybe a magic or attacking potion will come in handy. Save before talking
to him and when you choose his third option he will open combat on you when
he's done talking, so feel free to somewhat speed up his chat and get the
first hit yourself. From there you really want to avoid any of his swings;
I choose to go flame and frost magic, threw up a fire breath shout, and when
he got close I would drop my casting and back up. I would back up into the mist
with this strategy and you only need to drop him below I believe 60-70% of his
health and he will allow you to pass. Just know that any potions you use will
not be used in the final battle, so ration them out if you must. When you
beat him, just cross the bridge and enter the hall.
In the Hall of Valor you will only find food to take with you out of here.
There are a few named heroes, specifically Jurgen Windcaller, and when done
sight seeing approach the three heroes of old.
Dragonslayer ( DRSL444 )
------------
Group up with the three old heroes and go back outside. Cross the bridge and
now get your Clear Skies shout ready. Stand in line with them and use it at
the mist. Do this three times and Alduin will appear. Feel free to throw up
a few flasks for one last meaningful encounter.
It's pretty simple, just use your Dragonrend whenever you can and attack him
from his side. I was able to pound away at him down to at least 30% of his
health before he seriously started hurting me; not sure how, perhaps he was
focused on the other heroes. It was actually easier here than the first fight
as there is more room to move around. I had to use a few health potions, and
that was it. When he's dead you are done with the Dragonborn questline. Speak
to Tsun after and he will shout you back to life and give you a new shout.
When you return, speak to Paar who is perched nearby. After he leaves, stick
around and talk to Odah who will let you know that calling him can now be used
in the open world to help you fight enemies.
And that's it. You can put a bow on this quest by talking to the Blades, the
Greybeards, and the Jarl of Whiterun, but you are free to go about your own
business.
*****************************************************************************
* 05. Stormcloaks / Imperial Legion ( STIL555 ) *
*****************************************************************************
=================
The War of Skyrim ( WAR5555 )
=================
I combine these two because you can only pick one or the other, and not both.
And they are essentially the same quest lines, just different locations and
point of views.
The second major story in Skyrim after the Dragonborn quest is the war of the
land between the loyalists and the ruling empire. To boil it down, the Empire
has forsaken the worship of Talos and controls the region of Skyrim. It's
akin
to the North vs South in the Civil War, but the moral fiber isn't so
obvious.
Ulfric may seem like a magnanimous leader, but he's actually kind of
racist
towards non-Nords and is causing grief to his region that not everyone
is a
fan of. The Legion is tied with the Thalmor, a cold-hearted faction of elves,
who I believe control or have a heavy influence over the Empire (possibly some
sort of peace agreement or something that will most likely be the story of the
next game).
The Empire is the government of the land and somehow they are acting like a
buffer between the Thalmor and the rulers of Skyrim; perhaps reducing the
severity of the laws and control. The Empire would rule in relative peace I
suppose.
Basically, a rebellion is usually pure and good, but not in this case,
and the human part of the Empire may actually be acting in the best interest
of the Nords in the grand scheme of things. The
rebels here are a bit more
ambiguous in my opinion, but that is up for you to decide.
Either way, you should feel a bit guilty at the final encounter of either
faction.
*NOTE: Just a quick suggestion. You may want to try dual-wielding when going
on these big attacks. You may find it to your liking and you'll have allies to
fall back on if it goes ill.*
========================
The Stormcloak Rebellion ( STRE555 )
========================
Joining the Stormcloaks
-----------------------
Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, Ulfric
Enter the Palace of the Kings and you can listen to the Ulfric/Galmar exchange
that will play a few times unless you join them. Ulfric will send you to his
right-hand man Galmar, who should be nearby. Talk to him and talk a big game
to be sent on a mission to kill a single ice wraith on an isle to the NE.
Serpentstone Isle is NE of Winterhold, so either take the paths to the icy
flows or go to Septimus Signus' outpost if you played the dragonborn quest.
Just watch for the snow bears.
At the isle just wind around and up to the top where the ice wraith should be
fairly easy to kill; don't overthink this one. You can also use the serpent
stone here for a paralyzing power once a day, but I would not recommend it.
Teleport back to the keep and turn in your quest.
Now that you have proven your worth you can join the Stormcloaks. However,
doing so will fail the joining of the Imperial Legion minor quest you should
have and bar you from joining the Legion. If you are ready to take the oath
you cannot join the Legion.
The Jagged Crown
----------------
Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, Galmor
Galmar will send you to some ruins the west of Windhelm called Korvanjund,
which is not too long of a trek.
*NOTE: Most of this will be copypasta from the Legion side since I did that
one first.*
Join with your team and Galmar will give a speech and your team will be off.
Feel free to run ahead of them, or set up on the ledge to send arrows below.
Once the outside is clear, feel free to loot the bodies. Join your team and
enter the dungeon.
Inside, quickly loot the chest and feel free to run ahead, then back up
and let your allies do their part. One or two may die, but no worries. You
will need to quickly loot as Galmar will move on.
There are just three Imperials in the next room. Galmar will stop and allow
you to explore. There are plenty of urns tucked away, and if you go back up
the steps you will find a chest on the ledge leading to the upper pathway,
but you want to move quickly and in stealth forward with a bow ready. You
will want to hit all the hanging fire lights from the ceiling to the oil
blots on the floor before your team shows up. Or you can be a dick and find
the skill-up book and chest in the upper level as they fight, or get them
after the fighting and you all leave the area. Then run to the end and hop
down to help them clear the room. Move on with Galmar to kill one final enemy,
and quickly loot the urns as they examine the Draugr corpse. Move with them
to the next area.
Korvanjund Hall - Move up as there is a fight in the hall further ahead. When
you reach the door, pick up the claw and feel free to grab any loot. You do
have time to see what's beyond the bladed hallway as it's just a chest and you
can turn off the blades with a lever. Open your menu, find the Ebony Claw in
your Misc. tab, turn it to zoom in on the palm, and you will see the pattern
is wolf, dragonfly, dragon, and then insert the claw to open the door.
At the next room there is little loot on the floor, so go up the steps and
look for a tiny alcove on the right with some jewels and a dagger. When the
dagger is picked up the pressure plate will reveal a tunnel. Follow it to a
chest, but watch out for the spikes; you can either pick the trap trigger on
the left side of the chest or stand back after looting the chest. There are
also items on the right of the chest. Go back, continue across a walkway, loot
the chest, loot the potion around the corner of the lever, and then pull the
lever. This will spawn four-five Draugr who will surely kill one of your
allies. Try to save the weaker ones if you can and clear the room to move on.
*NOTE: For a stealth archer, feel free to down a trushot potion and post up
in the dark corner and snipe away from there.*
Korvanjund Crypt - There is just one fight in here. Go to the throne room and
the dead king has your crown. You can wait for him to get up, or hit him first
with a power attack and then work on his minions. Kill the other two Draugr
first, then help your team dps the boss. You will likely lose all but your two
hero allies. Kill the boss quickly, try not to cause too much friendly fire,
and take the crown. There isn't any loot except for a chest behind the throne
and a potion near it. Then go to the wall at the back for a power word. You may
not be familiar with these yet, but just know that you need to get the main
quest of the Dragonborn rolling to start collecting dragon souls to power up
these shouts.
Take the shortcut path out and return to the surface to fast travel back to
Windhelm and deliver the crown to Ulfric.
Message to Whiterun
-------------------
Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, Ulfric
Go to Whiterun and deliver the axe to Balgruuf. If you have not been down the
Dragonborn quest already, you will have to complete Bleak Falls Barrow as the
first major quest in the Dragonborn quest line.
* A Brief Aside *
As a summary, go to the Riverwood Trader and get the insight on the claw, and
A kind young lass will show you where to go; completely optional, but may as
well take in the story. You have to go to Riverwood anyway unless you have
something closer. Run through the dungeon, grab the shout and dragon stone, and
then return to Whiterun.
You will then go kill a dragon at a tower nearby.
Next you'll be called to the top of a mountain, but that is Dragonborn
business, we are focused on the war. If you want to hold this quest line off,
feel free. HOWEVER! There is a quest in the Dragonborn line that will require
you to complete the civil war quests in order to advance. You won't be able
to have the treaty if you didn't join a faction, so you'll have to resume this
quest line anyway.
So you may as well just finish this out.
After the Greybeards summon you, talk to the jarl again and resume the
businessof the war.
* Aside End *
*NOTE: You can't return to Whiterun until the next quest is completed, so if
your home is here you should grab anything you need for the fight; though you
should be okay without your stuff. And it will be there once the fight is over.
Even your spouse if you have one.*
Once you've done that, Balgruuf will take counsel, choose incorrectly, and you
must then return to Ulfric to deliver the bad news.
The Battle for Whiterun
-----------------------
Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, Ulfric
You should be able to fast travel to a camp south of where Whiterun was
located, but be warned that you can't enter the city just yet. Go listen to
Galmar and wait to charge. Be sure to save.
*NOTE: If you are an archer be sure to hit the archers on the walls and let
your infantry do the ground work. The enemies in yellow are clear to kill as
well.*
*NOTE: Not a big deal, just a glitch precaution. Don't loot any corpses, ever
in these infinite battles.*
You need to bust the barricade at the first gate, or let your men do it. You
then have two options to reach the second gate: either follow the rock path
straight ahead and follow it to the top of the gate, or go right as you enter
the first gate and follow the path of walkways up to get behind the second
gate and then fight your way to the levers. Either way, you need to flip one
of the levers atop the second gate.
You are then free to enter the city with the retreating soldiers. Then you
need to clear all of the guards on your way to the keep. There are more down
the right path, but you need to double back to clear the onces down the left
side of the city. Clear the barricades and enter the keep.
Three weak enemies will charge at you, and then there are four enemies ahead.
Slay the guards first, then work on either Irileth or Balgruuf as both need to
be downed to claim victory. Listen to the chat after and then you can return
to Ulfric at Windhelm.
Liberation of Skyrim ( LSKY555 )
--------------------
Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, Ulfric
You will be send to the camp near Helgen to the south, so you will probably
need to port to Helgen and walk to rest of the way. Speak to Galmar who will
send you to the next fight.
*NOTE: I'm thinking there are either two things happeing here: either the
quests to follow are random of an assortment of so many, or it depends upon
if you have or haven't done the re-alignment of territory in the Dragonborn
quest "Season Unending". It makes sense that if you did that and changed up
the land, then some of these quests may be different. I'll try to learn more
about this and post if I find out. They are all just fort assaults, but I
noticed that "Compelling Tribute" never came up and there was one less quest
than I did for the Legion on another character. It must be because I had
completed the Dragonborn quest on the one I ran this quest line with.*
Rescue From Fort Neugrad
------------------------
Location: Falkreath Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
Fort Neugrad is to the south. I met up with Ralof and we then ran to join the
fight at the fort. Kill the Imperials and let us enter the prison entrance to
the east first. Go in stealth if you like and kill the first guard. Sneak
below and there is one more. Loot both rooms and you only need one key off a
guard to free the soldiers. There is a path leading below, and there is a
chest under the water, but nothing else. Come back up and free the soldiers
and return topside.
Enter the middle door and Ralof will follow, but I was still able to sneak
through the whole place. There is one guard in the first room, one to the
left, one more behind a door on the second level, and possible three guards
asleep in the final room (or maybe when awake they are elsewhere). Either way,
clear the fort and talk to Ralof to be sent to Ulfric. There is a skill-up
book through the middle door in the front room of this place.
Return to Ulfric and he will give you a reward and send you to the next camp.
A False Front
-------------
Location: Hjaalmarch Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
The camp is NE of Morthal. Speak with Galmar to get your orders. Dragon Bridge
and Rorikstead are in fairly remote areas that you may not have any nearby
locations, even if you've been on a few quest lines. Dragon Bridge is a short
walk south from the farms near Solitude, so that is probably the best place
to go.
You can enter the inn and bride/persuade the innkeeper for details, but it is
free to just wait for the Imperial to appear; meaning use the wait feature
in hourly increments until he is there. Then just wait until he leaves and
follow him out of town. You can stop him by speaking, then quickly go into
sneak mode and try to pick his pocket. I believe so long as you are not seen
by others you will be able to repeat this and he will just try to run away
from you, not put a bounty on your head. I believe striking him first in combat
will be a bounty, so try to avoid it.
Return the documents to Galmar and he will send you to Morthal. Find the
Imperial officer and just hand him the documents. Return to Galmar and you
will then report to the troops to the preparing to attack a fort to the west
of Morthal.
Battle for Fort Snowhawk
------------------------
Location: Hjaalmarch Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
To gather with the men properly, go to Morthal and hoof it west, because if
you go straight to the fort you'll go 1 vs 100 until your guys show up. Get
in and then fight your way to the right. As an archer you want to clear the
walls and as a melee/caster you want to rush the enemies. The outside of the
fort is expansive and you'll want to get to the walls and dictate the action
from there.
After the battle, the inside of the fort is quite large too. Be sure to enter
the main part of the fort and comb it for a bunch of loot, including a skill-
up book. Don't worry about taking the ladder to the top as there is nothing up
there. The prison has two chests and a secret passage behind one of the cells
that leads outside.
Return to Ulfric and he sends you the camp at the Rift, which is to the far
NW of Riften.
Battle for Fort Greenwall
-------------------------
Location: Rift Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
Report to Galmar and he will send you to join the men at Fort Greenwall to
the east. Head to Riften and go north from there until you join the team.
Rush in and try to clear you way up to the walls. Once the right end is clear
of soldiers the rest should spawn from the left side where all the doors are.
Not much to say really, other than archery is fun as always.
After the fight, the fort entrance to the north is a waste with just a
knapsack with a single potion in the whole place. The prison has a single
knapsack behind a shelf as soon as you enter, and that is it. Don't bother
going downstairs, just go up to the captain's quarters. Not much in here but
a potion and some coins. The expert lock is just there for practice as you
can
reach the top from outside and there is nothing up there. The only real
treasure in this whole fort is to the south, behind the keep where the
captain's quarters door is found.
Return to Ulfric and you are sent to a camp in the realm of Solitude.
Battle for Fort Hraggstad
-------------------------
Location: Haafingar Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
Report to Galmar at the Haafingar, near Dragon Bridge if you went there in
a few quests before. He sends you to a rally point to the north.
Join your team, save, and charge. Get in, pick a wall, and hold it. As always,
best to follow your men so you don't get caught with your pants down in enemy
water. Feel free to use your shout to knock a few off the walls and to their
deaths.
Inside the main fort there is a skill-up book and some loot. The prison is
without much spoils, so return to Galmar at the camp. You are then set on the
final battle for Solitude.
Battle for Solitude
-------------------
Location: Haafingar Stormcloak Camp, Galmar
Go north to listen to Ulfric's speech before you enter the city. Save please.
Clear a way forward and quickly take out the barricades ahead. Then just help
your team clear Imperials until they are ready to move on. Go around the corner
and open the next gate. In the courtyard you may just want to enter the keep
as I ran into a neverending battle here. I just went in and the two heroes
followed. Your force shout will be useful in clearing your way.
When you enter a chat will play out. Get ready to strike against Rikke and
Tullius. Focus fire on one, Rikke, and your allies will handle the General. In
his dying words you realize that perhaps neither side is right and maybe the
rebellion is leaning a bit on the wrong, but too late now. You can kill him if
you wish, or let Ulfric have the honors. Either way you will get his weapon,
and you can loot Tullius of his uniform.
Go outside and listen to the speech (watch the lady jarl vanish after, lol),
and you can chat with Ulfric one last time as the Stormcloak Rebellion is
victorious and you are free to do as you wish.
===================
The Imperial Legion ( IMLG555 )
===================
Joining the Legion
------------------
Location: Castle Solitude, Tullius
The General and Rikke will be going over war plans. Speak to Tullius and he
will send you to Rikke. She will send you to Fort Hraggstad.
The fort is way to the west of Solitude, so get on the main road and go north
when you can; there are two roads, but either one works. Also, you should at
least find the Steed stone nearby, to the east of the fort. It's less weight
to carry and a big boost for heavy armor wearers.
The outside of the fort has four melee guards and three archers. There should
be one on patrol outside the walls, and then three more melee will come get
you, so stay outside the walls to avoid the archers. CC any you can and just
focus fire. Then go hunt down the three archers the last one being atop the
tower. There is a chest and forge before you enter the main fort, not the
prison.
*NOTE: You'll notice that under the Steed sign you can easily dodge 2H
Swings in heavy armor. Just a thought.*
The main part of the fort will have three enemies. Try to get a sneak attack
on the first directly in front of you. Go up the steps and try to snipe the
second. Get on the wooden platform in the corner and snipe the third bandit
who is a boss. You should use any poisons you have, block or dodge his attacks,
and heal up because it won't take many direct hits to kill you. Don't forget
to use your powers if you alert all three at once. There is a chest, armor and
weapons all over, and an archery skill-up book.
Now you must go into the prison, and do so with weapons ready as a bandit will
be waiting, with a second who will soon join. A third will be in the next room
below. Not much loot, so just return to Rikke in Solitude.
She and the General will be talking about the Jagged Crown.
Talk to Tullius to take the oath to join the Legion, and thereby fail the
quest to join the Stormcloaks.
Talk to Rikke again and she will send you to Korvanjund to retrieve the crown.
Before you do, feel free to use the grindstone outside to sharpen your weapons,
and then go find the blacksmith outside the courtyard to get a free set of
base Imperial armor.
The Jagged Crown
----------------
Location: Castle Solitude
Korvanjund is NE of Whiterun, so return there and make the long trek if you
don't have anywhere closer. If you never been that way, consider going around
the west side of Whiterun and you should hit a bandit hideout along the rock
wall. You will find three bandits, a skill-up book, chest, horse, and maybe
three more bandits who return. The horse will be very handy to cover some
ground (it can sprint too).
Once there you will meet an old friend. Rikke will give a speech and your team
will be off. Feel free to run ahead of them to slaughter the Stormcloaks
ahead. Once the outside is clear, feel free to loot the bodies. Join your team
and enter the dungeon.
Inside, quickly loot the corpse and feel free to run ahead, then back up
and let your allies do their part. One or two may die, but no worries. You
will need to quickly loot as Rikke will move on.
There are just three Stormcloaks in the next room. Rikke will stop and allow
you to explore. There are plenty of urns tucked away, and if you go back up
the steps you will find a chest on the ledge leading to the upper pathway,
but you want to move quickly and in stealth forward with a bow ready. You will
want to hit all the hanging fire lights from the ceiling to the oil blots on
the floor before your team shows up. Or you can be a dick and find the skill-
up book and chest in the upper level as they fight, or get them after the
fighting and you all leave the area. Then run to the end and hop down to help
them clear the room. Move on with Rikke to kill one final enemy, and quickly
loot the urns as they examine the Draugr corpse. Move with them to the next
area.
Korvanjund Hall - Move up as there is a fight in the hall further ahead. When
you reach the door, pick up the claw and feel free to grab any loot. You do
have time to see what's beyond the bladed hallway as it's just a chest and you
can turn off the blades with a lever. Open your menu, find the Ebony Claw in
your Misc. tab, turn it to zoom in on the palm, and you will see the pattern
is wolf, dragonfly, dragon, and then insert the claw to open the door.
At the next room there is little loot on the floor, so go up the steps and
look for a tiny alcove on the right with some jewels and a dagger. When the
dagger is picked up the pressure plate will reveal a tunnel. Follow it to a
chest, but watch out for the spikes; you can either pick the trap trigger on
the left side of the chest or stand back after looting the chest. There are
also items on the right of the chest. Go back, continue across a walkway, loot
the chest, loot the potion around the corner of the lever, and then pull the
lever. This will spawn four-five Draugr who will surely kill one of your
allies. Try to save the weaker ones if you can and clear the room to move on.
Korvanjund Crypt - There is just one fight in here. Go to the throne room and
the dead king has your crown. You can wait for him to get up, or hit him first
with a power attack and then work on his minions. Kill the other two Draugr
first, then help your team dps the boss. You will likely lose all but your two
hero allies. Kill the boss quickly, try not to cause too much friendly fire,
and take the crown. There isn't any loot except for a chest behind the throne
and a potion near it. Then go to the wall at the back for a power word. You may
not be familiar with these yet, but just know that you need to get the main
quest of the Dragonborn rolling to start collecting dragon souls to power up
these shouts.
Take the exit path out and back to Solitude. Turn in your loot to a shop and
turn in the crown to Tullius.
Message to Whiterun
-------------------
Location: Castle Solitude, Tullius
Tullius will send you to Whiterun, so teleport there. Head to Dragonsreach and
talk to the jarl. If you have not been down the Dragonborn quest already,
you will have to complete Bleak Falls Barrow as the first major quest in the
Dragonborn quest line.
* A Brief Aside *
As a summary, go to the Riverwood Trader and get the insight on the claw, and
A kind young lass will show you where to go; completely optional, but may as
well take in the story. You have to go to Riverwood anyway unless you have
something closer. Run through the dungeon, grab the shout and dragon stone, and
then return to Whiterun.
You will then go kill a dragon at a tower nearby.
Next you'll be called to the top of a mountain, but that is Dragonborn
business, we are focused on the war. If you want to hold this quest line off,
feel free. HOWEVER! There is a quest in the Dragonborn line that will require
you to complete the civil war quests in order to advance. You won't be able
to have the treaty if you didn't join a faction, so you'll have to resume this
quest line anyway.
So you may as well just finish this out.
After the Greybeards summon you, talk to the jarl again and resume the
Business of the war.
* Aside End *
Balgruuf will give you an axe and send you to Windhelm. If you haven't been,
take a carriage. Just enter the castle, talk to the jarl, get told FU, and
return to Whiterun. Let the scene play with the jarl and the new legate, then
speak to the jarl to be returned to the Empire.
Battle for Whiterun
-------------------
Location: Dragonsreach, Whiterun
Go outside of the city to find Rikke down at the gate below. You are to defend
against about 25-30 Stormcloaks. Despite the Whiterun Guard's belief that a
few wooden boards would hold out an invading army, the barricade will fall
shortly after the battle starts. You can sit atop the wall and snipe enemies
for as long as you can, but once the gate is opened you will have to keep an
eye on the area behind the gate as Stormcloaks will spawn in various spots
within your lines.
Perhaps you could fall back to the bridge, but I found no need at least at
level 6; maybe higher levels will need to fall back, but I just stayed around
the gate and ran to the spawned enemies every now and then while slaughtering
the incoming archers from the gate. It was very easy, but don't try to run out
beyond the gate and expect to go 1 vs 100 as the arrows and melee strikes will
add up quickly.
Once the number of dead rebels is reached, go to the gates of the city and
listen to the jarl, then feel free to approach him before porting back to
Solitude, though you'll need to get away from the battle area in order to fast
travel.
Reunification of Skyrim ( REUN555 )
-----------------------
Location: Whiterun, Balgruuf
Meet with the General at Castle Solitude and he will promote you, give you a
new item (random I believe), and send you to a camp. The camp is to the east,
so consider taking a carriage to Dawnstar or just hoof it east from Solitude.
Be sure to get Dawnstar marked on your map as you'll be returning soon, and
just because it is smart.
*NOTE: I'm thinking there are either two things happeing here: either the
quests to follow are random of an assortment of so many, or it depends upon
if you have or haven't done the re-alignment of territory in the Dragonborn
quest "Season Unending". It makes sense that if you did that and changed up
the land, then some of these quests may be different. I'll try to learn more
about this and post if I find out.*
A False Front
-------------
Location: Pale Imperial Camp
Rikke will send you to an inn to the SE. Port to Korvanjund and go NE to the
Nightgate Inn.
You can bribe the innkeeper if you want, but no need. I found the Stormcloak
was at the inn around midnight, though when he arrives and leaves is kind
of a mystery; best to just wait till around midnight and then go in and
out of the inn until he appears.
You want to get him outdoors, as a crime will add bounty to you and if you
kill him in the inn the other guests will kill you. What I did when I found him
was talk to him to make him stop, crouched as he prepared to move along, and
then I picked the documents out of his pocket like nothing. Maybe he will
catch you, but killing him outdoors will not be a crime so long as no one is
watching.
The alternative is to just attack him, or talk and attack him.
Once you have the documents return to Rikke, who will have you deliver the
forged documents. Just find the Stormcloak leader and give him the orders,
and it matters not if you are wearing any old gear.
Return to Rikke after and you will get new orders.
*NOTE: I think by not killing the courier he put a hit on me and a few quests
from now I was attacked by three thugs who had a contract from a Stormcloak
Courier calling me a thief. This was actually a good thing because they had
a bunch of gold and heavy armor upgrades for me, so by stealing the documents
I actually came out more on top.*
The Battle for Fort Dunstad
---------------------------
Location: Pale Imperial Camp
The fort is just SE of the Pale, so hoof it. You want to approach the fort
from the NE or SE, but not anywhere from the west as you will fail to join
the attacking army, though they will attack with you anyway (I just hate
failure in any way). Be sure to save before you rush in.
Now as the attacker you need to break the barricades, but the second set
leading to the courtyard may already have an opening.
All you really need to do is clear the first courtyard and wait for the
defenders to run through the second gate to you. If you're not the patient
kind then use the steps to the left and you can fight a handful of Stormcloaks
on the upper level. You don't want to go right on the upper level because you
may have three spawn on you and that is a bit too many. No reason to get in
the second courtyard or to go Rambo on these guys, just remember you can fall
back to the first courtyard and heal.
*NOTE: I didn't loot any of the fallen Stormcloaks and in the prison I didn't
close the cage with the potions, I didn't loot the skeleton, and I didn't take
the arrows on the shelf. By not doing these I didn't hit a glitch when taking
the ladder to the top of the tower in the prison. The glitch was I couldn't
move at all, even when fast traveling, so I would advise you to avoid doing
the things I described above, and save often, can't stress enough.*
Once the fort is clear, enter the left door to the fort and find the sleeping
quarters where there is a dresser with a bunch of potions, but that is really
all the loot except for some free gold that isn't really worth finding. The
prison has a few potions in the top room, a skill-up book, and an alchemy
table; I caution you to avoid taking anything else. The top of the tower has
just a few frost resistance potions.
When done, return to Castle Solitude and report to the General. It may have
been a glitch, but he gave me a Steel Shield, which I already had. Oh well.
Next we need to get to the Rift, which is to the far west of Riften, which is
to the SE corner of the Skyrim. Feel free to take a carriage to Riften, then
steal a horse undetected and cover the long distance in no time. Once there,
speak to Rikke.
Compelling Tribute
------------------
Location: Rift Imperial Camp
If you have it marked, fast travel to Riften. If your first time here you can
hopefully persuade your way into the city without paying and not pay the guy
named Maul inside to hear what he has to say.
You may also get to do the first quest to join the Thieves Guild, so feel
free, it will only take a minute or two.
There are only a few ways to get into the castle without being sent to jail,
of which just walking in to the back rooms will be a trespass. The best way
would be to go to the doorway behind the throne, get naked and sneak, and
watch for the patrolling guard to walk left, and then try your best to sneak
to the right. If you get spotted, just run to the room, steal without being
seen from the marked dresser, and then quickly run back out to the throne
room. There really is no other way to do it.
Then go talk to Anuriel and she will take you back to the room if you follow
close to her. During the chat you can choose "Go on" and you can then try to
persuade her into giving you some gold on the spot. Then find out about the
shipment and you are free to return to Rikke.
*NOTE: I would suggest tagging Shor's Stone, which will be north of Fort
Greenwall, which is the next quest.*
Tell her of the shipment and she will send you to the NE to intercept it. Join
with Hadvar and the troops who will be waiting on the road. He will have a
plan, and the only reason you would want to go alone is if you were a stealth
expert. Otherwise just tell him to wait for dark, move time forward to 10 pm or
so, and then move up. Sneak up the road as they should kill the first guard,
and then just go face the five enemies ahead. Any CC you can do to reduce the
number you have to face at a time will help. Once clear go loot the chest and
return to the Rift camp.
The Battle for Fort Greenwall
-----------------------------
Location: Rift Imperial Camp
Head to Shor's Stone to the north of the fort if you can, or from the south.
When it's time to charge go up and smash the barricades blocking your guys'
way. Make sure both sides are open so Legionnaires can pour into the
courtyard. You want to watch the walls covering the courtyard and keep them
clear, that is it. You basically stay here and occasionally go pick a fight
with the north if you must. But they should spawn from the door to the south as
well as try to retake the walls, so you'll be plenty busy just in the yard.
Remember to hide in a corner and heal.
*NOTE: Again, could be a glitch but I would not take anything from any of
the dead for fear of the immobile glitch.*
After the fight, the fort entrance to the north is a waste with just a
knapsack with a single potion in the whole place. The prison has a single
knapsack behind a shelf as soon as you enter, and that is it. Don't bother
going downstairs, just go up to the captain's quarters. Not much in here but
a potion and some coins. The expert lock is just there for practice as you
can reach the top from outside and there is nothing up there. The only real
treasure in this whole fort is to the south, behind the keep where the
captain's quarters door is found.
With the Rift secure, go to Tullius at Castle Solitude. He will send you to
the camp for Winterhold, which is actually closer to Dawnstar.
Rescue from Fort Kastav
-----------------------
Location: Winterhold Imperial Camp
The Imperial camp for Winterhold is just east of Dawnstar. Rikke will send you
to join the troops near the fort to prepare a rescue mission. The fort is
wayto the SE of the camp, and if you went to Nightgate in before you should
port there now. When I reached Hadvar and the team a dragon killed all of the
non-essential NPCs, so it kind of sucked but it was a minor distraction.
Talk to Hadvar whenever you can. Sneak up to the wall and enter the prison
through the hatch.
There is a chest and a shelf with items in the first room, and a guard or two
may spot you. Kill them and head for the dungeon to clear it and then take
one key from a guard and unlock the cells. They will raid the chest in here
for gear, so take them back up, no loot except for a sack on a shelf by
the exit door, and leave.
Now I'm not sure why your guys are unarmed, or why Hadvar and his
reinforcements never showed up; maybe the dragon for me didn't help. But you
should be able to go Rambo and clear the whole place if need be. Just hunt
down all the marked enemies and you'll get the all clear, but there may be
one more Stormcloak as well.
After the fight there are just a few chests and a skill-up book in the top
room of the fort. Then go speak to Hadvar and return to Tullius in Solitude.
You will be promoted to Legate and sent to the camp near Windhelm. The end
of the war is near.
The Battle for Fort Amol
------------------------
Location: Castle Solitude, Tullius
*NOTE: The horse didn't leave, it just wasn't visible because he was there
when I returned after this quest. I'm not sure why, so don't worry if the
horse just disappears, you'll just have to hoof it yourself.*
This is north of Fort Greenwall, so fast travel there and go north. You should
cross over the caravan wreckage, and you should take the horse. If you keep
to the road you will pass by the camp marker, but keep going until you can go
east to a Dwarven dungeon, and past that will be the camp.
Report to Rikke and she will send you way west to Fort Amol. Get back on the
horse from the caravan if it hasn't wandered off already, and go west. If you
follow the road there is an old orc who wants you to fight him to an honorable
death, so feel free.
Join your men north of the fort and make the trek to the front gate and smash
the barricades. If you are a Nord you can run in and use your battle cry to
fear the first few enemies, but even if you run in just go up to the wall
and clear the archers. Your men tend to spawn from the east side while the
Stormcloaks spawn to the west side of the fort. There are plenty of corners to
hide behind and heal.
After the fight, enter the fort from the lower door and there are potions and
a skill-up book near an enchanting table, and then just some coin purses above.
In the courtyard is a chest. In the prison there is a chest and some soul gems
and nothing else.
Return to Rikke at the Eastmarch camp. She will send you to Tullius who is at
Windhelm.
The Battle for Windhelm
-----------------------
Location: Eastmarch Imperial Camp
You may be able to fast travel to the camp near Windhelm, or just go to the
stables as the General is outside the city gates. Go up to the rally point,
listen to the speech, get motivated, and then enter the city.
Fight the first few enemies, then go left and take a right down the narrow
alley. Clear it and bust the barricade. Fight at the intersection of the
stairs and clear the enemies behind you before moving up. Go up the steps
and clear the barrier before moving on, making sure your team is following.
For the next part, just sit back and let your team move forward the whole way
up this narrow path. At the corner you should find it hard to advance, and
around the second corner will be harder as that is where the Stormcloaks
spawn. You will just have to let a band of your guys aggro all the enemies and
then try to run through to start tearing down the barricade. A few force shouts
or any other tricks you have will work; if all else fails just run up there and
drink some potions while you hack away. Once the final barrier falls you are
free to enter the keep.
Go up and let them talk it out until it is time to fight. Just focus on Galmor
and let the other two handle Ulfric. Once Gal is down, Ulfric should soon
follow. You will be given the chance to take him out yourself, so agree to do
the deed, you get a new sword, and take him out. You get to keep the sword,
feel free to loot his body, and go out to hear the speech.
And after that you are done with the Legion and the civil war is over.
*****************************************************************************
* 06. The Companions ( COMP666 ) *
*****************************************************************************
The Companions are essentially the Warriors' Guild from Oblivion, except there
is a nice treat in here that you may or may not be expecting.
Take Up Arms
------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Whiterun, Kodlak
The hints of this quest should have started to the south of Whiterun when some
Companions fought off a giant. You'll find their base near Dragonsreach in
Whiterun. Kodlak is usually found in the living quarters below. Talk to him
and he will ask you to test your skill on Vilkas. You can't have a magic item
equipped or use magic. Just block and take a few swings at him and you will
be a part of the guild.
He gives you a sword to take to Eorlund who will be up by a forge up the steps
just outside the Jorrvaskr. He in turn will give you a shield to take to Aela
back inside. She may be in the quarters below, and then Farkas will show you
to the sleeping area. That will conclude this quest, but the next one from
Farkas will start immediately.
Hired Muscle
------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Whiterun, Farkas.
Given right after you complete the enlisting quest. You are sent to Riverwood
to "intimidate" Sven.
Just fast travel to Riverwood and find Sven either at his house or at the inn.
When you brawl with him you can only use your fists and your shout, but try
not to shout as you may cause collateral damage. Once he is beating, let him
stay on the ground and he will get up to talk with you.
Return to Farkas for your gold.
Proving Honor
-------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Whiterun, Skjor
*NOTE: Save between each paragraph please, because unless you are heavy armor
and health specced you could die at each fight. Also, I don't intend to point
out each and every urn or Draugr corpse to loot.*
Find Skjor who will bounce you back to Farkas. Head to the Dustman's Carin NW
of Whiterun and Farkas will meet you there. Enter and you can loot the first
room, including a skill book and chest. Down the hall will be five Draugr, two
or three of which will be restless. Farkas might get stuck in the doorway, but
do what you can to not let him get swarmed. There are just lots of bodies to
loot.
Around the corner will be an alcove with some ignots on the shelves. The pit
ahead will have items on the shelves, and when you pull the lever in the cell
you will be treated to a scene. Loot the five silver swords and note they are
more effective against undead, and quite valuable for the light weight.
In the next hall will be two more Silver Hand you can sneak attack. There is
plenty of loot in this hall, but be careful when you remove the helm from the
first pedestal as poison darts will be in your back. Past the door ahead will
be what seems like an empty room, but one Draugr corpse is sleeping, so sneak
attack it.
Into the next room will be a waiting warrior and archer. You want to get a
sneak bow shot on the warrior and then hope that Farkas can hold aggro on him
while you two burn him down, then go get the archer and there may be one more
buy in the area. Chest is under the steps and there is a ton of loot tucked
into every corner. Be sure to fully inspect a side room for a bunch of loot,
but don't try more than a few picks on the master chest; I doubt you can even
open it right now. Don't miss the pull chain in the upper corner, behind the
wooden wall and near an urn.
In the next room you can shimmy the ledges to grab a few urns, then drop down
to loot the slab of potions and gold - save now please. In the next room are
nothing but dormant Draugr in the walls, so sneak kill the first few but watch
for the Silver Hand around the corner, sneak on the big guy and burn him down.
Go ahead and kill the Draugr, pick the chest ahead, and grab the four urns on
your way through the door.
Snipe the archer up ahead, then sneak attack one of the two Silver Hand. Try
not to wound Farkas yourself and head through the next door. There is a poison
dart trap in the middle of the steps, and two Silver Hand on the ground. Kill
them, loot the chest in the corner, and enter the crypt.
Dustman's Crypt - There is one guy up ahead around the corner on the right.
Quickly go through the door and look below to the Silver Hand fighting the
undead. Try your best to get some cheap arrows in on the humans from above.
I'm not really sure what they are supposed to do because once they all clogged
the hallway ahead and I was killed easily. The other time they split up to get
killed a bit easier but were still difficult. The main thing you might want to
do is NOT kill the Draugr in the walls as they seem to rise when Silver Hand
are near. On one run there was just one big human in the hall, and then three
more in the main area below the walkway we crossed. That fight was still tough
because the woman and another guy were fairly strong.
There is loot all over, especially in the room before the main room. In the
main room be sure to grab the key from the chest. Use it on the nearby door,
watch for rats ahead, and loot the next room, including a door on the left.
The door on the right leads to a cave where you have some spiders and undead.
Further up is the final room. Loot the urns on the left and approach the altar.
You have a glyph to absorb, loot on the slab, and the fragment for the
Companions' quest (DO NOT forget that). When you turn around the place will
fill up with Draugr. They come in two waves of 3 and from there 5 or more,
including restless ones. Farkas will be a big help in surviving this, but you
can just run around either burning or using your steel. In the early part you
can get a bunch of snipes, but that won't work after the first few waves. Good
luck and don't die as Farkas will eventually kill everything if he must.
Take the door up in the alcove behind an old coffin door. You will be back to
the start.
Return to Jorrvaskr and follow Vilkas to the back. After the meeting, ask
about werewolves and you will be told to visit the guy at the forge to get a
new weapon of your choosing. I assume he gets you what you want based on your
highest weapon skill.
The Silver Hand
---------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Skjor
Farkas will send you to Skjor (I believe a quest earlier too), and Skjor will
ask to meet you under the forge outside at night. The forge which is up the
steps outside of Jorrvaskr, and the entrance is easy to see on the rock wall.
It is funny if you try to walk with him as he goes to it at night, or just go
to the entrance and wait for him (use the wait feature).
Follow him inside and not sure if it's bugged but after you talk you need to
use the fountain, though no one tells you to.
You'll then be running around outside, but I assume it is only for a short
time and you will automatically black out and appear with Aela at the next part
of the quest, so I say just sit tight and run around the back of Jorrvaskr and
don't cause too much trouble, like killing a bunch of guards. You'll note you
have melee attacks, can sprint, and you are always in third-person.
After you black out you will appear with Aela in the wild. You are naked, so
equip your gear and head up to the camp outside the cave. You are free to
turn into a werewolf once per day but there are limitations and things you need
to know:
You cannot pick up loot.
You cannot use powers or weapons.
You must feed to fulfill your bloodlust if you want to extend your
time as a werewolf, otherwise you will turn back within about two
minutes.
You can still open doors, levers, chains, and other crucial actions.
So I say just kill the three Silver Hand outside the cave entrance as you would
any others. You'll find a chest in the tower up above and look for a box on
a platform over the ledge which may have some valuable arrows. Then go inside.
Nothing in the first room, just pull the chain on the pillar to open the gate.
Head down and kill the two enemies. There is a dead wolf to look at, a chest,
and loose items on the table and shelf. Open the door and you'll fight a rat
at the corner. Up the steps there is a pressure pad waiting, so avoid it and
sneak up on the sitting enemy when the patrolling one isn't looking, then
finish him off; hopefully Aela won't get in the way of your sneaking as she is
a good sneak herself. There are some items on the table, and then two more
Silver Hand at the other end. Don't worry about freeing the werewolf in the
cell; he's feral and will attack you.
Around the corner is a door and through that door will be three enemies in
range. You can open the door, stand back, and snipe the first and maybe a
second or third if Aela can draw their attention. Don't underestimate the
power of these guys, as lowly-geared as they may be. Careful as you enter this
room as there are two more up top. Once the room is clear be sure to find the
three bear pelts if you still have that minor quest for pelts. There is also
a book on a table up top, as well as a chest in the lower room which also has
a master chest you most likely won't even want to sniff at.
There are tanning racks here, and in the next room there is a forge and
bench. Pick the door for a chest, and don't miss the smithing book skill-up.
The next room will have four enemies, two lesser foes, one stronger guy, and
the boss. Open the door and sit way back to snipe the two you can see, but the
boss and the stronger guy should be out of view to the left. You will want to
fight them in their room, not the narrow hallway, but you could use it to
funnel them if Aela falls. You want the boss to be killed last, and don't
forget to use your shouts. The boss uses a shield bash and dagger, so you
really want to be away from his shield if you can help it.
Once dead, loot the bodies, chest, and talk to Aela to get your next quest. To
exit this dungeon just follow the doors, and when you open the barred door you
should be ready for one last Silver Hand the the first room you cleared.
Stealing Plans
--------------
Location: Gallows Rock or Jorrvaskr, Aela
She will send you to Winterhold, but you can go where you wish because we want
to take a carriage to Dawnstar. There are stables at Windhelm. From Dawnstar
go south along the road, which should pass a pack of wolves, a giant or two,
and in the woods you will take a path to the left. There are three Silver Hand
outside the entrances. You want to take the top door to enter the Garrison,
not the mines.
Inside is a single powerful enemy, so sneak and finish him off if you can.
Loot the fat chest, the potions, and leather strips on the wall; may find a
few things on the table, and then leave. Return to Aela at Jorrvaskr and she
will send you to the SE edge of Skyrim.
Striking the Heart
------------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Aela
Travel to Riften and find the road to the SE behind the city and follow that
road until you cross a bridge and then you should find a trail leading up the
mountain. There are two guards, and once they died a fugitive gave me something
and ran away; not sure where he came from but try not to hurt him if you can.
*NOTE: Never quite followed up on him, or knew what he gave me. Kind of
frustrating, but it's not something automatic, so pay attention when it
happens to know what he gave you.*
Enter Broken Helm Hollow and sneak forward, avoiding the little wire trap
which is in place purely to alert the sleeping Silver Hand. If you can pull it
off, try to sneak kill the two sleeping goons on near the fire. Pull the chain
on the wall nearby and there is a body which gives you a minor quest and a few
items on a table. Go back up and get you strongest attack, potions, and powers
ready for the Silver Hand leader. She should be sleeping on a raised area, so
get a sneak attack off and quickly draw your best weapons/magic and have your
force shout ready. Try to shout her off of the edge to the floor below where
you could either try some ranged damage or follow her for melee strikes. Either
way, don't let yourself die as she too will often use a shield bash. Finish
her off and loot the chest where she was from the right to avoid the trap, grab
the items nearby, and leave.
Return to Aela and she will send you to Kodlak.
Blood's Honor
-------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Kodlak
He should be in the basement, and he will send you to the SW, which means that
Falkreath Tower is your likely destination. From there it is a good hike to the
west to reach Glenmoril Coven. On my way I ran into a powerful conjurer who
used a frost atronach against some bandits, and at the foot of the trail to
the coven two enemy mages were fighting some frost spiders; and in both cases
I finished off the mages after.
Inside the coven will be a chest hidden in a dark alcove straight ahead. In
the first room will be a witch and two spiders. Sneak kill the spider to your
right and then try sneak attacks on the witch before engaging in combat if you
must. All of these witches simply do melee damage and cast a spell or two,
usually a heal. Try to time your unrelenting force when they are around 50% to
try to avoid their heal. You can swing, step back, and they may never get a hit
on you.
*NOTE: Only at range will you be a victim of their fire attack, so get in
close to only deal with their slow melee swing.*
After the fight there is a purse and some ingredients in a dark pit on the
left of the entrance to this room. Go up to kill the spider and then take the
north tunnel. Witch #2 has a rat nearby, then repeat your tactics from before.
There is an enchanting table if you need it. The upper west path leads to #3
who has a spider, chest, and a poison nearby, and being across a little stream
you should have no trouble killing her with a bow. #4 is down the lower west
path and you will enter from above her. Again, an archer can hide in the corner
to the right and snipe her. #5 is down the lower north path, and now archery
is not going to help because you can't seem to get an arrow over the barrier
in front of her, but if you can get her head then go for it. You'll likely
come to blows with her, so get in there and mess her up. Loot the chest and
with all five dead you are free to leave.
Return to Jorrvaskr to find the Silver Hand were fought back in an attempted
attack. Vilkas will speak to you inside about the carnage.
Purity of Revenge
-----------------
Location: Jorrvaskr, Vilkas
You two will travel to Fort Felhammer and then go NE to Driftshade Refuge up
the mountain. There will be two weaklings guarding the entrance.
Inside you will run into two Silver Hand in the first room, and Vilkas lacks
the range of Aela, but maybe he can charge forward for you and hold aggro while
you snipe away. Clear them and enter the side room to snipe another goon. There
are a few items in here, then move to the next room where there should be one
guy up here with you and one more below. A few items up top and a chest in a
room below.
Down the hall is a door to unlock and then just run in and bash the sleeping
dude before he wakes up. Loot the room and move on. The next room has two
strong foes, a chest, and a purse on the table in the right corner. Pull the
lever by the gate to move on.
Driftshade Cellar - There is a chest around the first set of barrels, then just
run forward to confront the first strong enemy, but watch out for the pressure
plate. If the plate isn't hit, use the button on the wall to reveal the area
behind the barrels with the chest. There are weak weapons and armor on the
shelves, and head to the next room. Try to snipe the two weaklings, then go
read the book for a skill-up. There are two more Silver Hand in the snowy part
of the cave. Try to snipe the enemy in the torture room ahead. In the final
room with enemies, use your force shout to knock them off the top of the steps.
Finish them off and loot the shelf behind the fireplace.
Then follow the path to the door back to the refuge. There are just three
enemies two weaklings and the boss. Flask up with a health and armor buff if
you can. Try to snipe the two weaklings if you can, or be sure to kill them
first as they should fall easily. Then just use your strongest attacks to down
him with Vilkas' help. After the fight, pick up the fragments on the table, read
the two skill-up books, and loot the fat chest. Unlock the barred door and get
out of here. Return to Jorrvaskr.
Glory of the Dead
-----------------
Location: Jorrvaskr
Go to the skyforge where the funeral for Kodlak will begin. After, go to the
basement and find fragments in the end table. Return to Earlund and then go to
the underforge. You are given Wuurthrad, a powerful 2H weapon that doesn't
seem to cost stamina for power attacks. Favorite it and travel north.
Going to Septimus Signus' outpost will work, or just go to Winterhold and take
the trail north down the slope to the icy flows to reach Ysgramor's Tomb.
Loot the offerings if you wish, and then put the axe on the statue to open the
forward path. Go through with two allies and defeat the rats, then two ghosts
in the first room. In the big room ahead will be a melee and two archer ghosts,
so feel free to let your allies handle the melee one while you take out the
ones in the back. Kill them all and then loot the room of corpses and urns,
but be sure to sweep the whole place as there is a lot of loot tucked away.
The next room has five ghosts, so take them out one at a time, with your allies
hopefully focusing on your targets or you on their's. Once clear, loot the
whole room and don't miss the urns atop a shelf on the other side. Open your
way into the spider room and clear it. In the next spider room will be two
small ones and then a giant boss spider, so down it fast and be ready to drink
a cure poison potion.
The next two areas of the catacombs have three ghosts each: two fairly weak
ones and a stronger one that has range and melee attacks; you should save
before each fight. And in both corners of the rooms you will find alters and a
few Draugr corpses.
In the room after will be a lever to pull which will open the door to the next
big room which has four ghosts waiting. If you have slow-mo with a bow I
would suggest you use it to down at least one if not injure it, and then back
up into the lever room where you will at least deny hits from the archer ghost.
Kill the three melee and then the archer. There is a skill-up book on the altar
with some urns.
The final room has a ghost you can talk to. Place one of the witch's heads on
the fire to summon a wolf spirit to fight, and it should focus on Aela leaving
you free to trim away at its health from behind. And that will be it, talk to
the ghost again and you are now the leader of the Companions. There is a chest
up the ramp as well as the path leading out. Up the spiral ramp will be a shelf
with quite a good haul, including a free-floating piece of armor that may be
valuable.
-----
You are free to leave, however, there are a few things you can do. First,
consider if you want to cure yourself of lycanthropy. This means you can no
longer turn into a beast, but you can regain the rest benefit, which is really
all you lose be being a werewolf. If you do toss a witch's head into the fire
you will have to fight another spirit wolf, and anyone in the room will help
you fight it. You can NEVER be a werewolf again and you are barred from the
Underforge. So if you do end your beast blood you may as well drop those
witches heads you have.
Second, you can take Wuuthrad with you. Third, take the other path that opened
upon your return to the first room. It will lead outside and you can go up some
steps to pick up another shout at a wall. Then you are free to go about your
business. Now you can recruit any of the Companions to join you in a quest.
You can also tackle the side contracts.
Trouble in Skyrim
-----------------
He will send you to Falkreath to deal with some rogue mages at a tower. If you
have never been to Falkreath, take the Whiterun carriage at the stables. From
Falkreath go north toward the lake.
Sneak up the tower (it should be empty except for the leader at the top), and
either sneak attack or kill her some other way. There is another dead body to
search, a chest, and a book skill to read. Head back to Whiterun and tun in
the quest to Farkas.
*****************************************************************************
* 07. The College of Winterhold ( MAGE777 ) *
*****************************************************************************
First Lessons
-------------
Location: Winterhold, Mages College
The college is accessed via a long bridge, and if your first time you will run
into Faralda. She will want to test you to gain entry, and you can try to
persuade her otherwise, or name-drop dragonborn and she will want you to show
off a shout.
But if you are not that far into the dragonborn quest line then you will be
asked to cast a spell in front of her. It's actually a cheap way to earn a
free spell as she offered me a flame atronach spell for just 30 gold.
Follow Faralda from a distance as to not have her chat with you the whole time,
and she will light the beacons on the bridge that will open the gate for you.
Find Mirabelle and agree to take the tour. Just follow her and after the
dorm she will send you to a lesson with Tolfdir.
Tolfdir's class has you use a ward spell if you choose the "practical" option.
I had one, but if you don't I assume he will teach you one. Be sure to
stand in front of him until he says "now cast your ward" and then just hold
it until he hits you. That will be it, and next you'll meet at a dig site to
continue the college questline.
Under Saarthal
--------------
Location: Winterhold, Mages College, Tolfdir
You can either go west along the edge of the sea and go south, or go south
out of town and go west over the mountain. At the west end of the site will
be some urns and a chest. Talk to Tolfdir and go in.
Follow him down and then say you have no more questions when ready. Go
into the lower chamber and take the path to find Arniel. Go grab the three
rings and the amulet last (your quest tracker will point them out). You'll be
trapped in, so go talk to Tolfdir, put on the Saarthal Amulet, and cast a
fire spell at the wall to open it.
After the scene ahead, get ready for two draugr to pop out. Go up and pull the
lever; feel free to move ahead of Tolfdir, though he is very powerful. In the
next chamber there are four draugr, so use the bridge thing to your advantage.
When ready, enter the next area.
*NOTE: When you see glowing runes on the ground, you can set them off with
a magic spell. Also, some broken urns will have some loot in them.*
Saarthal - The first room has four draugr, including a strong one. Feel free to
try and get around them and use the upper level gaps to keep them away from
you. There is a chest up top in the dark area, and a ruby on the table near
the exit door. A few draugr will be down the hall, and watch out for the
pressure pad at the corner.
In the catacombs ahead you need to make the symbols on all six stones match
the symbol directly behind them. Do this and flip the lever. In the next room
there is a powerful enemy, and if you have the upgrade force shout you can
knock him off the sides. Watch the runes ahead and in this hall you have a
puzzle, so bear with me:
#1 #3
Lever
#2 #4
The numbers represent the stones, and they need to go in numerical order:
dolphin eagle
Lever
snake dolphin
However, some of the stones turn others as follows:
#1 - turns 2, 3, and 4
#2 - turns 3 and 4
#3 - turns 4
#4 - turns none
I'm sure there was an easy solution before I came in to mess it up, but all you
need to do is flip them to the right symbol in order from 1 to 4 and then flip
the lever - easy.
Tolfdir will catch up to you, and there is a little loot in the next junction,
just watch for the pressure pad. In the final room there is a boss named
Jyrik. He will resist certain magic during the fight, so pay attention to his
appearance and dual-cast something he is weak to if you are a caster or have
magic weapons. But you need to wait for Tolfdir to cast his spell on the orb
before you can damage Jyrik, so just protect yourself and run around until
then. Use the ramp and upper and lower levels to your advantage.
Be sure to loot the writ and fragment from him after and if you read the writ
you will begin a side quest, but for another time. Leave out the back door,
grab the chest, and learn a new power word. Exit the dungeon and return to the
college. Speak with Savos who will reward you.
*NOTE: That shout is very powerful. It freezes an enemy. To power it, have
a dragon soul absorbed, go to your magic menu, find it under shouts, and if
you have a soul to spend you can unlock the shout.*
Hitting the Books
-----------------
You'll find Urag in the library, and he will send you to recover three stolen
books. Ancano should question you briefly as you leave.
Fellglow Keep is NE of Whiterun. I suggest taking the horse from the bandits
who are on the NW side of the rocks along Whiterun, but any way you get there
is up to you. The outside may have bandits before you reach it, two mages, and
a flame atronach. One of the mages is weak and the other is strong, and the
atronach is about medium strength. Whatever you do, don't be in the line of
fire for all three. Kill them however you wish and enter the dungeons below.
There are a few bear traps leading to the watery room where a mage will send
two spiders ahead of himself. The spiders aren't trouble, but the mage will be
a challenge, so feel free to throw on a frost resist potion. Down the hall is
a pressure pad and if you go straight you'll end up in a dead-end room with a
chest. Come back and go down the other hall and kill the mage in the torture
room. You then want to sneak to the right and flip all four levers to let the
three vampires loose. They will rush into the next room and clear it of the
mages and then the vampires will just leave. There isn't a ton of loot to be
found.
Down the hall there will be another room with cells, but you don't want to let
the wolves out. Just flip the middle switch to let out Orthorn and use his
help to kill the mage if you need. On the left side of the room is a locked
door leading to a chest and a few other things. The upstairs is locked, so
follow the low path and you'll hear some mages practicing spells. Orthorn will
prove useful if you are a caster, and I suggest using frost on these guys.
The next room will be necromancer territory, so have fire spells ready if you
are a caster. There is a chest in the room on the right at the other side, and
then take the door to the keep.
There is a conjurer and a mage in the first room; as you should know, killing
the conjurer will kill the summoned creature, so get him first. There is a
skill-up book in here, another mage in the next room, and then another in the
room with two levels. But mages from parts unknown may enter the fray. On
the second level of this room there is a room on the right with an unusual gem
that relates to a side quest. The lower room on the left will have a few mages.
*NOTE: Orthorn can be used at the final boss, but I don't expect him to last
that long. I don't think he heals himself very well. He isn't necessary but
do try to be aggressive and hit them hard if you want him to live.*
Take the top left doorway and there may have been some mages in here, but I
didn't run into any. There was a skill-up book in here and no much valuable
loot. The next hall had a room on the left, a sleeping mage in the corner room,
a flame atronach at the end, and a locked room with a shrine and other loot.
The sleeping mage dropped a key to the fort. Go up the steps, grab the stuff
off the shelf, and go into the final room.
*NOTE: I believe you can offer Orthorn for the books, but she isn't too
powerful and she drops some decent loot.*
After the scene be ready to hit her hard. She will teleport to the locations of
the books, so ignore the atronach and blast her before she disappears. When
she is dead, grab the books, her loot, and the stuff in the room with the
ladder. Then you can unbar a door and exit.
With the books in hand, return to Urag who will give you one book for each
school of magic. This is a powerful reward as at level 8 I got halfway to the
next level.
Good Intentions
---------------
Go meet with Tolfdir (how they got that through the doors is a mystery) and
not long into the chat you will be sent to meet a new character. You won't get
to chat with him all day, and soon the chat will be over. Speak to Savos who
will send you to Tolfdir. The entrance to the Midden is in the courtyard.
Feel free to drop out the window on the right in the first room as there is
just an ice wraith and a conjuring circle you can't use if you take the long
way around. A draugr will be below the window, and then take the door to the
Dark zone. You can drop to the left at the ice bridge to grab the chest and
with some careful, skillful jumping you can get back up. Or follow the right
path through some spiders, a weird hand thing, two skeletons, and find an
alchemy book on an alchemy table before rejoining the correct path, or you
could have just taken a right after you cross over the ice bridge and grabbed
the book a bit quicker. Enter the room at the end when told and you shall
speak to the Augur (I would warn you to look away just in case).
Return to Savos (running past the ice wraith if you must), he will give you
a circlet, and then you need to go find Mirabelle.
Revealing the Unseen
--------------------
Mirabelle will send you to a dwarven ruin that is a bit closer to Windhelm
than Riften, but it may be easier to get there from Riften. If you go from
Windhelm you will need to go east past Kynesgrove almost to the orc camp or
Narzulbur, but not quite. I suppose you could take the low road from Windhelm
and can eventually reach the ruins too.
Inside Mzulft a guy will give you his last words. Take his key and enter.
Watch out for the pressure pad ahead, and there will be two spiders to deal
with. Just FYI they are resistant to frost. The next room will have two more
spiders and a potion by the empty container. When you go to open the left door,
quickly back up to avoid the spikes. A spider will guard a single chest. Come
back and take the other door to a spider who guards the next door.
A chaurus bug will be in the cave ahead, then loot the knapsack, satchel, and
feel free to take a nap. There is a trip wire in the tunnel, but consider
saving it to use against the chaurus ahead, or if you can somehow get both
of the bugs to fall victim to the rocks that will fall in front of the wire,
feel free.
In the next hall be ready for a dwemer sphere to emerge from the corner on the
right. It hits hard, so I would advise you to sprint in to it's side just as
it closes in for a slash. Once it's dead, open the door for a few chests on the
wall. There will be a spider ahead, and soon after another sphere, and if you
go into the room there will be another spider to deal with, so just get the
sphere and backpedal as best you can. Once you kill the spider in the next
room there is an alchemy lab and chest in the lower area.
Take the path to arrive at a large room. You don't have to worry about going
into the pit. Hit the sphere on the other side with a ranged attack and it
will most likely trigger the pistons to push it off into the pit. Kill it on
your side of the room, and when ready just know that you don't want to rush
over the pressure pads; just step on them, let them fire, and then go. Little
loot on your way to the final door, which to the left there is a chest in the
alcove.
The boilery will have a bunch of dead automatons until you reach a square hall
with a patrolling falmer. You can sneak around him if you want, but he should
not be too tough for you. Not much loot and one more falmer as you come to a
room with two falmer, one being a caster. Not much loot in here, and down the
tunnel you will run into a bug. There is a chest on the right and in the next
cave there will be two bugs and a caster falmer. Hopefully you only engage
one of the bugs at a time, and it's possible the second chaurus will trigger
the tripwire trap next to the vertical column; hopefully you won't hit it.
There are a few loose items on the right and chest in the hut.
There are two falmer at the next room, a bug at the end of the cave, and then
one falmer in the dwarven room. I would not advise trying to pick the master
lock unless you can. In the next hall there is a locked door with a bug waiting
on the other side. He guards an item on the table, a chest, and a bed where
you should take a power nap.
The next room has two falmer, a chest, and in the opposite side left corner
there is a room. Back up as you open the door to avoid the spike traps, and
kill the bug to claim the chest and potions inside. Then take the other door
to the next zone.
You got a falmer and bug waiting ahead. In the big room ahead there will be
four falmer, so go right at the start and try to take on just the two on the
floor first. Then go down the right side hall, through two rooms, and through
the small door will be a powerful spider machine waiting. He guards a key and
chest. Come all the way back to the big room and kill the last two falmer.
Unless you have high lockpicking, ignore the master lock on the side. Grab
the chest in the hut, make sure you looted the focusing crystal from the dead
falmer, and go through the door.
The second door will be opened by a new character who is not an enemy. Pick up
the knapsack of items by the bedrolls as you follow him. Place the crystal in
the middle of the device and talk to him to learn you must use flames and
frostbite to alter the light beams. I believe you only need a few hits of
frostbite to get the beams pointing on the rings of the ceiling. When they are
directly on the green rings, go up and push the buttons until all three lens
are reflecting light. Speak to him again and you are sent back to the college.
*NOTE: There are tomes for both spells if you have failed thus far at being
a mage.*
Take the side door to get out into the open world quickly. You won't be able to
return to this secret door, but return to the college. There is a powerful
ward you need to help them dispel. Cast your flames up above and the ward will
soon disperse. Follow them inside.
Containment
-----------
Go outside and Tolfdir will speak to you. You will be sent to town to defend
against 10 anomalies. Two allies will join you.
Depending on how they all spread out, you want to either focus your fire on
targets they are attacking, defend yourself, or throw your magic at big groups
of them. Loot them for gems and return to Mirabelle. She will give you a quest
item, an amulet, and send you off.
The Staff of Magnus
-------------------
*NOTE: Regardless of your spec, I say bring some good archery stuff, shock
resist stuff, and maybe some really strong scrolls. Casters should also bring
plenty of mana and health potions.*
The Labyrinthian is SE of Morthal, so take a carriage if you must and head out.
I took a strange path almost directly south of Morthal, climbed up some rocks
under the dungeon entrance, and popped up right next to the door. On a separate
character I recall two ice trolls being along the normal path through the ruins
so you may want to consider my sneaky way in. You'll see a ghost before you
enter and soon a little scene will play out before you can enter.
*NOTE: Though there are a lot of trolls to cut through, you may want to go
near the front of the outer ruins. There is a small dome-shaped hut and inside
is a note next to a Wooden Mask. It's not very important for now, but once
you have the mask from the final boss of the upcoming dungeon it will be a
little more meaningful. See Dragon Priest Masks for more details.*
There are a ton of skeletons to loot, some urns, and a tome on the table. Up
ahead will be a locked gate and you can see about ten skeletons waiting for
you. If you are range then just open the gate and quickly burn them without
going too far in and triggering the Skeletal Dragon. Do not panic if it does,
just kill the weak skeletons with the casters being the strongest. The dragon
is weak against fire and is not very tough, though you want to kill it
quickly. There are some urns along the sides of this cave, but they aren't
worth the time. Up ahead will be a scene and a tablet, then go into the next
zone.
There is a chest tucked in the right corner, and down the path you will be
sapped of your mana for a moment. Hit the draugr before it wakes, grab the
tome, and when ready hit the door with a fire spell and kill the spirit that
comes out. In the next cave there are two draugr, and somehow you may trigger
another mana sapping. Midway down you can go left to run down a hall with two
draugr and ends in a room with some loot, including a tome.
Come back to the main cave and there is another draugr down the descending
path. But take the high road into a room with one draugr and another one who
is asleep near the rubble. There are some potions on the edge of the upper
area, some stuff in the rubble, a ring on the table with the urn, and a gem
you need to jump up and grab on the shelf. Down the path is a chest in a little
alcove by a body, there is a nirnroot to the right to the lowest part of the
previous cave, and then go left to the next zone.
*NOTE: I'm not going to point out every mana sap, so just expect them give time
to regen if you need mana.*
There are two undead in a tiny room. Pick the lock and go down the sewer to
find a stash of treasure. You'll drop off on the correct path, and you don't
have to go up the steps to face the enemy you missed. Just follow the stream
and in the pit you will face a troll. Fire is strong against these things if
you didn't know. There is a chest in the corner.
In the next area there are two skeletons below, and two more above the gate.
Go left over the bridge and a troll will be waiting. There is one more at the
end of the tunnel who guards two urns and a chest. Return to the gate and go
through to collect some loot, including a chest up the steps. The wisps are not
enemies, or at least I was able to sneak through them and they didn't summon
the wispmother - so save before you cross over. If you do face her I suggest
drinking a frost resist potion and focus fire on her. I cast a blizzard spell
which didn't do much, so fire is the element of choice.
Up ahead will be a door you need to cast a frost spell on, then deal with
the spirit that comes out. A scene will play in the room ahead and you can
dispatch the undead as it rolls. I suppose you could fall down the trap hole
up ahead, or just go around and face the undead in the room. You'll come up
to the bottom of the drop anyway, where it looks like a troll was killed and
was intended to be for you. Kill whatever remains and take the door out.
Down the hall will be a few undead, a chest, and a tome. The next hall will
have two gem turrets that you need to quickly take off their pedestals to
stop the damage, and don't step on the run at the doorway. There are two
undead in the cave, and two more above you in the tower. There is some ore at
the bottom of the water. Down the hall you can take a left to pick a door to
grab a nifty few items off the dead guys.
The next room has a power word wall and a boss, though do not be surprised if
a dog from the next room joins in. Burn the boss and get the word. The next
room has a bunch of undead, so sneak in, let your mana get sapped, and retreat
to refill if you must. There are a few items on the other side, and then make
your way to the final room.
Morokei is a dragon priest with a dragon mask and the staff, though he uses
his own magic. I believe he has a spell to turn any conjured allies against
you, maybe only in close range. The biggest threat is his instant-strike
shock spell, and like all shock spells it will eat up magicka.
To damage him you must kill the two mages powering his shield. Before you do
that you may want to go up and around to pick up a few chests near the exit
door. Open it and a final ghost scene should roll.
Your biggest advantage - your only advantage - is that there are so many
levels to this place that you can easily slip away from him in stealth. He is
supposed to return to his starting spot when he loses you, so I would suggest
staying in stealth almost the entire time. Unless you are very high level and
have an end tree perk or two, I would suggest using the chipping strategy.
Fully-specced melee users may want to try a more direct approach.
What this means is get to the top right corner of the top level, with the
stairs to your immediate right. From there you can get two arrows on him
pretty easily: once from his starting spot and once or twice while he's going
across the first bridge. Then you retreat to the left corner of the top level,
and Moro will investigate the corner you vacated. Take point atop the steps
and try to get two arrows in him before retreating to the door below. Then get
a few more arrows in him before retreating down the exit tunnel.
I would not suggest trying to lure him down the entire exit tunnel, and it's up
to you if you let him return to his starting spot. This strategy is very time-
consuming, but then again this boss will be hard to face for the uninitiated.
The doesn't regen health, so you could take all day if needed and you should
eventually win this war of attrition. If you want to see if your regular
combat tactics will work, feel free to engage him to start, but when things go
FUBAR you should retreat to the top level, crouch, and try to slip away.
Morokei prefers range, so powerful melee users may be able to get close and
stun/stagger him a few times. I know the destro perk Impact will work to
stun him. I didn't get to the point of trying a paralysis, but he resisted all
other poisons.
When he's down to 40% or so of his health, feel free to run in and try your
normal combat moves. So an hour later, loot his corpse and you are free to
leave. You will run into an enemy on your way down the exit tunnel, who will
be good practice for the staff if you want. The Staff of Magnus is strong
against casters. There is one chest in there and a piece of jewelry on a plate
next to the door. When outside you may need to kill a troll to fast travel, or
slip away and return to Winterhold.
*NOTE: The mask of Morokei is one of the final masks of the Dragon Priests.
See Dragon Priest Masks for more details. Oh yeah, don't forget the wooden
mask from outside and at the front of the ruins is needed too. May as well
grab it on your way out if you didn't already.*
The Eye of Magnus
-----------------
Find Tolfdir and tell him "Let's get in there" and he will follow. Use the
staff to open the outer barrier, then go into the hall.
Enter and you will see that nothing you do to Ancano will hurt him. You must
use the staff on the eye and when Ancano is not glowing you can then attack
him. I may have lucked off because Ancano seemed more interested in fighting
the anomalies and some guy who snuck in and I'm sure is not supposed to be
in here.
*NOTE: Use your own gems or the ones from the fallen anomalies and you can
recharge the staff from the weapons tab.*
Ancano seemed pretty weak, so if you aren't damaging him then you need to cast
the staff on the eye. Once he is dead you can loot him and then go talk to
Tolfdir when it is all clear. A scene will roll, you will be the top cat, and
you are rewarded with some new threads.
*****************************************************************************
* 08. The Thieves Guild ( THI8888 ) *
*****************************************************************************
Obviously those with Thief skills are best-suited for this quest line, but
there are plenty of items and potions to help you if you are not. It is
advised you use the Thief stone if you want to max the experience gained.
There are core quests and secondary quests. I would suggest waiting to do the
secondary jobs until you've gotten all the rewards in the main story line.
===========
Core Quests ( TGCO888 )
===========
A Chance Arrangement
--------------------
Location: market, Riften
*NOTE: Save, because if the quest bugs you can reload.*
You can only meet Brynjolf during the day in the market. He will ask you to
take a ring from one stall and place it in Brand-Shei's pocket.
Madesi's stall is to the SW, which is just left of where Bryn will start
talking. You should sneak,open the door under and behind the stall when
undetected, and then pick the lock on the box. Shouldn't be too hard, and then
you need to sneak behind the dark elf who is sitting on the box. Pick his
pocket and place Madesi's ring on him.
Bryn's presentation will end and you can go talk with him. Brand will be
taken into custody soon after.
Taking Care of Business
-----------------------
Bryn will have you go through the Ratway in order to reach the Thieves lair
below the city.
You'll find an entrance in the canals. Try to sneak by the guys in here, but if
you must kill them I suppose it's no big deal. Follow the path and drop into
a pit, and pick the lock on the left; it's tough, but worth it. Then if you
can sneak by the guy in the next room you will be safe at the thieves' den.
Approach Byrn and ask about the three weaknesses for the three targets he sends
you to collect from. When leaving, open the drawbridge so you have a quick
path back to the Flagon. Also, the NPCs in here will forever be dead.
Go to the Bee and the Barb first. Talk to Talen and he will reveal something
about Keer's family in Morrowind.
Go to the Pawned Prawn and attack the Urn in front of Bersi to get him to
crack.
*NOTE: You can brawl with them to get them to pay I believe.*
Enter Haelga's Bunkhouse and go around the corner to steal her statue of
Dibella. Talk to her and threaten to destroy it. Feel free to grab the minor
quest from Svanna before you leave.
Loud and Clear
--------------
Return to Bryn and he will take you to the real secret lair. After the chat you
need to return to the Flagon to get armor from Tonilia. You can also speak to
Dirge and Delvin to learn about the state of the guild. Speak to Vex to learn
of the secret entrance to the Goldenglow job.
DO NOT EVER SELL THE THIEVES GUILD GEAR!!! Just don't okay. And it's pretty
useful as you won't be doing much combat, or shouldn't. Any sneaking, picking,
or speechcraft items need to be at the ready. If you haven't been much of a
sneak to this point, feel free to go get the Thief stone to help you in this
quest line.
Go back into the cistern and loot all the guild chests at the foot of each
bed. Also, there is a room with five levels of locks. You need about level 60
lockpicking to even attempt the master chest, and even then you should have
10 picks ready to break. Use the ladder in the cistern to get back up top
using a secret door by the cemetery.
*NOTE: If it's not obvious, you want to be sneaking when around the estate.
Also, a detect life spell would help.*
The Goldenglow estate is west of Riften, so swim out there to the isle and go
in from the sewer on the west side of the isle. It's really not necessary, but
you want to remain undetected and there is a skill-up book in the sewer. There
are a few groups of rats, two traps, including a fire trap that you need to
seek cover from in an alcove on the side, and open the cell in the middle of
the tunnel with the book and a chest. When you exit the sewer you'll just be
at the back of the house, which you actually reach from the water and some
strategic jumping, but oh well.
Once inside, there is some loot in the rooms to the right, including a bag on a
shelf in the hall, and when you go left there is a door with loot behind it.
There are three guards at the end, but you can cut through the dining room
and slip upstairs.
There are three guards: one the corner of the first hall, one sleeping in a
room, and one with his back to the room you need to enter. Slip through the
rooms to avoid the first and just quietly get in the corner so you can pick
the lock to the door. I'm not sure why Aringoth was hiding in the corner,
apparently saw me, but then I was back to hidden. I picked his pocket and was
able to grab the bee in a jar and bee statue and he didn't seem to mind; he
even talked to me.
Now go back downstairs, and a detect life spell will help you time when you
can pick the lock to the door as the guard is walking away. Pick it and go
into the basement. Head down the hall, hang a right, and there is one enemy
guarding the safe. You can use the oil to set him on fire, kill him outright,
or try to shoot an arrow to the hay or down the hall you came from and use
that time to sneak down the steps (I just thought about the shooting it down
the hall, but didn't try it). There is some gold, a chest, and use the key to
open the safe. Take the sewer exit and you can take the ladder to pop up behind
the house, or go back down the other end of the sewer, which is best.
From the sewer entrance on the west side, just go south, hop up the rocks to
get behind the beehives, pull out your flame spell or torch, and you don't
even have to cast or swing, just touch the hives and they will set on fire,
BUT ONLY BURN THREE, 1, 2, and 3. Then quickly sneak SW to the main land and
you can fast travel back to Riften.
*NOTE: There is an icon for the Thieves Guild on the Riften map.*
Remember to use the cemetery entrance at the grave. Return to Bryn and then
turn your bee statue into Delvin.
Dampened Spirits
----------------
Go to the Bee and Barb in town and talk with Maven about the next job. Zap
yourself to Whiterun. Mallus will be at Bannered Mare. He gives you the dirty
details. The meadery is south of town.
Talk to Sabjorn and try to get payment upfront. Go into the storehouse and go
upstairs. Use the key to open the door, then pick your way into the next room
where you can pick up a decanter which is the special treasure; I believe
there is also a skill-up book in here. Then enter the basement.
There are two rats, five more down the tunnel, five spiders, and then watch for
the two bear traps and one wire trap. Next will be about five rats and a
caster to deal with. Loot the chest and then apply the poison to the nest.
There is one bear trap as you enter the celler ahead.
In the broilery just go upstairs, loot the chest, and open the lid to poison
the mead. Go to the door, grab the key next to it, and exit. Return the
Sabjorn and watch the scene unfold. Talk to Mallus after and go upstairs. If
you missed the decanter before, grab it in the closet now. Open the dresser and
then return to Riften and Maven at the inn. Then return to Bryn and don't
forget to turn in your decanter to Delvin.
Scoundrel's Folly
-----------------
Talk to Bryn to be told to follow Gulum after you chat. Go to the inn in
Solitude and put on any speechcraft trinkets before you chat with the lizard.
He will be hard to persuade or intimidate, so get his bribe price. He wants
a wine from the Blue Palace.
*NOTE: In the warehouse ahead, look for a skill-up book on the shelves next to
a ramp on the left not long after entering.*
Enter the palace, crouch, and take it. Give it to Gulum and he gives you some
gems before giving you some info. Wait around and let him leave, and sneak as
you follow him (giving him some time as he goes through doors). Just follow
him all the way down to the docks and into the doorway. Inside the warehouse
you really need to watch where you're going and use a few detect life spells
as you don't want to be caught by the roaming guards. When you enter you can
go up to a path above the shelves which is just around the little shack on the
right. His destination is behind the shelves on the other side of the docks,
taking a path through the water to reach it.
With that in mind, take a detour up the path to reach a guardhouse up above.
I suppose you could kill the poor guy, but the pro thing to do is shimmy along
the narrow ledge to the left and grab the map, coins, and rings from outside
the window; you basically have to keep your joystick pushed right the whole
time and you shouldn't fall off. The map is worth a reward with Delvin. Then
head down into the grotto.
In the Grotto there are traps, bandits, and shortcuts at every turn. The thing
is that most of the guards have loot near them, so feel free to just stick to
the normal path and avoid the side paths with no loot. The first room has some
potions, the second bandits have a chest in the water, and at a corner with
some boxes there will be a chest and watch out for the ram trap with a pressure
pad. At the end there is one by the canoes, one patroller, and one next to
Gulum. Kill all three; feel free to use the ledge on the right to get on top
of the shelf or cages. Leave Gulum alive and talk to him after all the others
are dead.
Then you have a massive loot job. There are several chests on the shelves,
a few items tucked away, a gem atop a ladder, and a master chest. Pull the
three levers and you only have to kill the horkers if you get too close or
you want to.
Return to Bryn at Riften and then go to Tonilia for an upgrade to one of your
Thieves Guild armor pieces. Get the gloves to increase lockpicking, or the cap
to increase price discounts if you don't need lockpicking. Then turn the map
into Delvin.
Speaking With Silence
---------------------
Head to either Winterhold or Windhelm and make your way to the sanctum. It
should have a few creatures among the ruins, and then meet with Mercer near
the entrance and have a chat. Let him open the door and go in.
The first room has loot and a chain on the wall to the closet. The next room
has corpses and one that you can awaken. When you pull the chain on the wall
be sure to stay next to the wall to avoid the spike swing. The catacombs has
two corpses you can awaken, and the door has a few potions. Three bear traps
after that, and up ahead will be three draugr and a boss level one. There
should be two more and a chest. Down the hall is a door to a loot room.
In the next room there are bone rattles to wake the four draugr, so open up on
them first and help Mercer burn down the one he is fighting. Grab the potions
and book and head down the hall. The next room has a ton of undead to deal
with. Provide support to Mercer and just stay alive. You'll notice a caster
should send an atronach, so kill the caster and the summoned creature dies.
There should be a few rats and a draugr or two left. Clear it all out, and
then take the ramp path up and down a hall to an area over the room. When you
grab the model ship, quickly jump off the side to avoid the fire, or set the
fire off first. Then take the other path to reach the door to the sanctum.
Snow Veil Sanctum - You don't need to awaken the sleeping draugr at the
start if you can help it. Down the path you should get the first hit on the
strong enemy who will awaken a few tough undead to help him. Just burn them
quickly to avoid being overwhelmed. You can grab the chests without touching
the strings. Watch out for the pressure pad and there is another enemy in
the hall.
The next room has a boss draugr and allies in some tombs. Kill the lesser
ones first, one is one each side if you get close to it, and then burn the
boss. Loot the chest and pick up the power word on the wall. Down the hall
Mercer will unlock the door.
Hard Answers
------------
Chat it up and head for Winterhold, and Enthir may not be at the college; he
may be found in town at the inn. He will send you to Markarth. Enter the keep
and hang a left to run into the wizard.
You can try to talk him into it, or just grab the key from the table next to
him and sneak into the museum. There are three guards in here that roam
around, so slip to one side and avoid them.
In the lab there is a room on the left with a spider control rod if you want
it. Sneak right and use an arrow to the side to buy you time to reach the
door. You want to get a lab key off of one of them, or just pick the master
lock. You can use the red valves to spring traps, but the lab key should
work (I just picked the lock).
In the loud hall there are two guards who patrol down the center. You can
sneak to the lower path, get on the pressure pad in the corner, and then run
to the next pad on the right in the hall and then put a body on it to shut
off the gas. Or you can just sneak behind them using the alcoves; there is no
loot down the lower path. Either way, you can use the red valves to turn on the
spinning traps in the middle. Also, there is a master chest in one of the right
alcoves near the guard's path, and there was an ebony mace sitting in the
rubble on the left alcove.
Move up and there will be a few guards in some tight quarters. Slip past them
and SAVE. Use the red valve to kill the guards, but try to spare Aicantar if
you can. He's not an important NPC, but try to turn the valve and turn it
off immediately. I'm not sure it will work as they did keep spinning for a
while, but at least try to spare him. If not, loot him, read the book on the
table, and grab the dwemer cube in the corner before leaving to the balcony.
You are free to stop sneaking.
In the tower, go look at the massive stone tablet. Enter the room, loot the
gems, read the book, loot the chest, and pick up a coal and paper. Once you
copy it, sneak left and let them pass, then drop down and slip out the door.
You'll see that if you look to the right as you move down the balcony there
is a tiny path. You want to fall as far away from the rock as possible, so
go out and push out to drop safely in the water.
Return to Enthir in Winterhold and he should be in the basement of the inn.
Chat it up and you'll get a new weapon.
The Pursuit
-----------
Return to the Ragged Flagon, but you'll have to go through the Ratway. Don't
worry, it is clear still. Follow her to confront Bryn. Follow them as the
scenes unfold, and then talk to Bryn. Keep talking to learn all you can. Then
go see Vex about Vald. Don't forget to turn in your ship and cube to Delvin.
The manor is right behind the temple, and there are three gates you can find
to enter. You could pick one and kill Vald, but the correct thing to do is
go to the Bee and Barb or maybe she is roaming the streets. Find her and ask
her about Vald's debt. She will send you to the docks, which there is a door
on the west side of Riften. The boat is between the last boat in the docks
and the boat at Goldenglow manor. You'll see a canoe stuck in the mud and you
can pick the lockbox to get the quill. If you want to easily locate Maven,
just put the misc. quest active and you will know where she is. Then you can
tell Vald his debt is forgiven.
However, you can just kill Vald. One way I found to do this was to approach
any of the gates with quill in hand, and for some reason he becomes hostile
and will come out of the gates to attack you. Then you can let the citizens of
Riften kill him and take his key. I suppose he isn't hostile if you get his
debt cleared, but it really doesn't matter if he dies or not.
Once in the yard, shoot the mechanism under the balcony to lower the ramp to
get to the top floor. Sneak behind the first guard and go downstairs. Turn left
and open the door. Approach the barred door in the corner and open the cabinet
to the left. Push out the false back and go into the sewer. Watch the one
pressure pad, and then you'll enter a room with fire traps on the floor. Just
avoid the four pads that are active (making a backwards S to safety). Another
pad in the next tunnel, a chest in an alcove, and then sprint through the
danger tunnel ahead.
Down the ramp, open the door from the left to avoid the darts. There is a note,
a sword, the plans, a chest, and a cowl to grab. Follow the tunnel to take a
secret passage back to the ratway vaults (a main quest area) and then enter
the Flagon. Turn the cowl into Delvin, then go find Bryn.
Trinity Restored
----------------
The hall is south of Riften. Follow, be sure your quest tracker is on, and
you will be told to touch a stone to receive Nightingale Armor. Put it on and
follow forth and there are chests down either side room. Head forward and do
as instructed. After all the chatting, exit, clear your space, and head to
Irkngthand.
*NOTE: I think now there is a shrine to Nocturnal in the cistern.*
Blindsighted
------------
*NOTE: Bring a potion of waterbreathing if you want to be safe.*
It is easier to approach if you follow the river west from Windhelm.
The outside is camped by some bandits and traps, so feel free to sneak by
them or take them out in your new armor. There is a lever to open the gate,
and when you go up the walkways there is a boss waiting around the corner in
the corner of the second level. Feel free to use your force shout if you have
it to knock him off for an easy kill. Loot him, the chest, and go up to the
entrance.
The first room has a bunch of bodies, a chest, a bear trap atop the steps,
and a master chest on the right side of the room. The next room has two chests
on the opposite wall, and three dwemer spheres. The next part of the room has
a bunch of fire traps, and possible some spiders will emerge from the ports
on the walls, but they didn't for me. Just time your passes through the
wheels of flames, cut through the rubble, and open the gate to get through.
There is a chest in the hall, a master gate to pick for no reason really, and
a spider to kill before you take the lift.
There is a trap when the door opens, so just sit tight. Open the side gate for
some treasures, and when you get into the big area you should kill the falmer
who is around the steps. Then sneak to the other side of the top level and
open the gate to use the crossbow on the other falmer (or just kill him like
normal). The way you open the gate is to flip both levers on either end of the
top level. You would think you could use one or both of your partners to use
the levers easily, but you just got to run to each lever quickly so that the
gears by the gate below are both spinning. There is a bunch of loot in this
room, including a falmer chest which looks like a bench by the entrance.
*NOTE: I'm not really going to mention the bear traps anymore as they don't do
much damage and you almost have to try and get hurt by them.*
The next area has about four falmer down the narrow path, and then a few more
along the ramp leading up. Clear you way up and in the room ahead will be
just some detect life scrolls. The next cavern has about four falmer on the
ground, and you should be able to tag the centurion with an arrow and it will
engage the falmer. Then you can mop up whoever is left. Be careful when you go
up the steps on the left as there is a wire trap on the left side of the final
step. Some traps along the upper path, and try to snipe the two falmer and
spiders to clear you path to the next zone.
One spider is in the first room, and just some ores behind the gate to the
right. Sneak left and pull the lever to damage the falmer, then turn it off and
finish them off. Just some potions on the table and you can find some loot on
the dead guy. Watch for the pressure pads in the hall. The next room is filled
will falmer. You may be able to sneak right, fall off the ledge, go left to a
table area, and hopefully your allies will both follow you off the ledge and
not get detected, but you should be ready to throw hands, and there are a lot
of falmer to fight. You can pick either gate in the middle or to the left. I'm
not sure if there is a good chest to open, but you can tell your allies to
wait if you want to check.
The next room will have an easier path on the right where you will run into a
pipe that your allies will cross with you. But park them at the pipes and
sneak left to find a chest with good loot in a hut. Cross over the pipes, drop
down, grab the potion, and move on. There are just two weak falmer in the next
room if you want to take them out.
*NOTE: If you have other sets of gear, get your melee stuff ready, like the
Nightingale Blade.*
In the sanctuary a little scene will roll. Bryn and Karliah are busy, so it's
left to you alone to face Mercer. He will turn invisible, so track him down
and start slashing. The force shout to knock him off the steps is an easy kill
if you have it. Loot almost everything off of his corpse and then just wait for
the water to rise. It will take about a minute to reach the top. Then you can
take the path out to a cave.
I had already been to this cave and there was just a troll fighting a bear, but
it was empty this time and the chest was reloaded. You will now have the
Nightingale Bow and the Skeleton Key.
Darkness Returns
----------------
*NOTE: This is a daedric quest for Nocturnal.*
*BUG: Do not exit the conversation with the ghost until you hear everything
he has to say, otherwise you will not be allowed to enter.*
The Skeleton Key is a lockpick that can never be broken. So there is some
consideration if you want to not finish this quest and keep it, but you really
don't need it as gold is not an object once you pass level 30 and you can buy
all the lockpicks you may want. I say just complete this quest.
The sepulcher is way west of Falkreath, so head there on foot. Inside you
talk to a spirit. To the left is the remains of Kystrom who will have a nice
weapon and a satchel near him. His notebook is worth a read.
There are two ghosts in the first room, one who is in the tiny room to the left
and the other is down the steps. Kill them and loot the shelves to the right.
Watch the pressure pad in the hall, and there is one more ghost in the next
room.
When you reach the dark cavern, stay in the shadows as the light will burn
you. Ignore the corpse in the light and there is a wire atop the first steps
and before you head down the other side, so hit them and wait for the darts to
pass. Go up and right to get up some steps, and hit the wire before you cross
the bridge and sit adjacent to the bridge so that the darts ahead will miss.
Go up the next steps and hit the wire at the top of the descending steps. Then
just follow the darkness to the door.
In the next path are two chains behind the torches on the sides. Up ahead you
will see swinging blades and a bunch of pressure pads, and the door ahead will
have a ram when you open it. However, before you go down the bladed path you
can use your skeleton key on the door to the left and eventually you will open
the door and your key will never break (very handy, but it's too late now to
reconsider keeping it).
There are two ghosts to take care of, then loot the elven arrows on the wall
with the skin and read the skill-up book. Pick up the loot and go back up,
follow the hall, and take the door to the inner sanctum. Follow the path and
drop down to loot the skeleton. Just wait and you should get to move on. Put
the key into the floor and then face the Daedra as she speaks. Then speak
with your friend.
The crescent is for an invisibility power, the half is for a power to cause
enemies to attack each other, and the full gives you a life-drain spell. I
say go with the crescent. You can always change after 24 game hours. A quick
chat will unfold and then you can leave.
-----
If you haven't done the other jobs from Delvin and Vex, you are not the guild
master just yet.
Also, there is now a shrine of Nocturnal in the cistern. I think it's been
there a while, but it's there now. It's a 10% stealth buff for 8 hours, so
use it whenever you want.
Remember to turn the left eye into Delvin, but he will not take the right eye.
I suppose you can keep that for your own collection, or sell it. Also, I
missed the map from the warehouse the first time, got it after, and Delvin
didn't accept it. I think maybe you need to wait to turn in the falmer left
eye until AFTER you've turned in the following:
Queen Bee Statue
Honningbrew Decanter
East Empire Shipping Map
Model Ship
Dwemer Puzzle Cube
Bust of the Gray Fox
Then turn in the eye. All are found during the quests above at almost every
location you visit.
================
Secondary Quests ( TGSE888 )
================
It's a good idea to get a job done for both before returning as it does take
a few loading screens to reach Delvin and Vex. But if the jobs are in Riften
it's probably best to do those and return. If you want to accept and decline
jobs until they overlap, be my guest.
Keep in mind that all of these are repeatable and will need to be repeated.
Each time you repeat a quest it will change locations and items, or you will
have the same thing to do at a different spot. Often you'll be targetting the
same stuff, but just make each quest active so you know what to do.
Remember, if the target is home and not letting you do your business, just
exit, use the feature feature for late at night, and try again. You usually
have to be trespassing for 20 seconds or so before they put a bounty on you.
Only the jobs in Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm, and Solitude will lead to the
special quests you need to become guildmaster. So feel free to accept and
drop quests until you get ones in these cities. This means the Riften jobs
don't help in progression and after you get each special job you should pass
on any further jobs in those cities.
Vex's Jobs
----------
She will assign you to your choice of burglary, shill, sweep, and heist jobs.
Burglary jobs - easy enough, just go to the marked point, crouch, and grab the
item. Usually doable during the day when most places are open and you can just
walk around until you want to steal something.
Sweep jobs - same as burglary but with more items to take.
*NOTE: If you get the Heimsker job after the Battle for Whiterun, you may as
well get a different job because his house is destroyed.*
Heist jobs - a burglary job against a shop.
Shill jobs - pay attention to the item you are given and just place that where
it needs to go.
Delvin's Jobs
-------------
Numbers jobs - just find the object and use it while crouching.
Bedlam jobs - steal items from a hold until you reach the amount of worth in
gold. You can be anywhere within the city's reach, but just going to the city
and stealing stuff from the main castle will work. Anywhere with potions and
ingredients is a good target. Sometimes you may have to steal from just a
house, not sure why. And pickpocketing does not work.
Fishing jobs - put on your pickpocket trinkets as that is what you need to do.
You'll want to make a save or ensure an auto-save is made before you do the
deed on these ones so you can reload before you get a bounty
*NOTE: If you haven't trained in pickpocketing it may be best to avoid these
quests as most items will have a 0% steal chance (you can tell by looking at
the bottom of the scrollable list of items).*
Imitation Amnesty
-----------------
Complete so many jobs in Whiterun and Delvin will offer you this job.
Olfrid will ask you to enter the castle and complete two tasks. First, go into
the front door and up the back steps. I think if you are not thane of the city
you may need to sneak around. Go into the jarl's quarters and you can change
the ledger and pick up the note on the table up the steps.
Simply tell Olfrid and he will reward you with an item. Delvin will install
the new upgrades when you report to him.
The Dainty Sload
----------------
Complete so many jobs in Solitude and you will be sent to Erikur who is usually
at the Blue Palace. He asks you to get some drugs and plant them on a ship.
There is a ship at the docks with a woman named Sabine who you can buy the
stuff from for 1500 gold. Or you can drop below the docks leading to the ship
and pick the expert level chest to get it for free.
The Sload is north of Solitude, so if you haven't been you can hoof it from the
drug ship. The crew are hostile, so sneak onboard and there is loot as you
enter. You can either sneak or kill your way down. The final NPC is the first
mate who you can kill, so you can clear it all if you want. Simply kill the
first mate and you can easily open the chest, get a skill-up book, and take an
unusual stone off his table. Plant the Balmora Blue potion in the chest -
careful not to drink it - and leave.
Return to Erikur for a reward, and then report to Delvin for a guild upgrade.
Summerset Shadows
-----------------
Complete so many jobs in Windhelm and Delvin will give you this quest. Seek
out Torsten and he will send you to Niranye. Get her to reveal the truth, and
further chat may reveal hints of another potential side quest.
Uttering Hills Cave is SW of Windhelm and there are two bandits guarding the
entrance. Inside there are two thieves at the fork in the road, and either
side leads to the same end which is a door guarded by two more enemies.
Inside you should prepare for Linwe who is fairly tough if you are not ready
for a real fight. Kill him and his minions.
Further down are two more enemies, a fat chest, and a banner you can burn.
Return to Torsten and he will reward you. Return to Delvin and he will upgrade
the Flagon.
Special Jobs Completion
-----------------------
Completing the four special jobs for each hold will unlock the following
benefits:
One - Merchant in the Flagon.
Two - Alchemist in the Flagon.
Three - Blacksmith in the Flagon and a new recruit in the Cistern.
*****************************************************************************
* 09. The Dark Brotherhood ( DABR999 ) *
*****************************************************************************
Obviously a sneak, bow, dagger-specced player is better equipped to handle
this quest line than others, but illusion magic with its frenzy spells can
prove useful too.
An Angry Child
--------------
Going around Riften or other towns you may hear of a child trying to summon
the Dark Brotherhood. One thing you can do is go to Riften and visit the
orphanage in the corner of town. Witness what is happening there and then go
to Windhelm. I believe a woman on the upper walkway to the right of the
entrance will have a chat and you can talk to her. The house nearby, the
Aretino Residence, is where the child is located. Break in and speak to him.
Innocence Lost
--------------
He will ask you to go to Riften and kill Grelod. You will happily do this.
Feel free to sneak it up, but you can kill her in plain sight if you wish,
and if you kill her whil she is scolding the children you will get many
thanks, even if you are undetected (which is the best way to go about this).
Return to Aventus and you shall be rewarded.
With Friends Like These...
--------------------------
You now need to wait for a courier to find you. I believe it takes a day or so,
so feel free to hop a few towns, or whatever. He will give you a mysterious
note, so read it. Now find anywhere to sleep, and I say just pay 10 gold for
a room at a local inn.
You will awaken and will be talking with one of the top cats in the Dark
Brotherhood. She asks you to kill one of the three captives behind you. You can
interview all three and you will find that Vasha is the least likable one of
the bunch. You in fact will not know who was the "correct" answer, and you
could even kill all three if you like.
*NOTE: You can even kill Astrid and begin a quest to destroy the Dark Brother-
hood, but there isn't much fun in that.*
She will reward you and offer you an invitation to the guild. Go to Falkreath
and travel west to reach their HQ. "Silence, my brother" is the answer.
There are a few items on the shelves, including a book and some armor. Astrid
will give you another set of armor.
Sanctuary
---------
In the next room you can hear the chatter. Feel free to pick up the power word
on the wall and then talk to Nazir. Pick up your first three marks: Narfi,
Ennodius, and Beitild. Quick notes on your den:
Babette is an alchemy trainer.
Nazir is a light armor trainer.
There is a sneak book in a side room.
There is an unusual gem near the front, in what I assume is Astrid's
room.
Kill Narfi
----------
He is near Ivarstead. He has a minor quest where you can recover the remains
of his sister, but there is no way to start or finish it now, and it only
rewards some ingredients so it's not a big deal. Narfi sleeps at 4am, so
kill him then.
Kill Beitild
------------
She is usually just walking around town. You can talk to her about the contract
and she will fight you, which you can then fight back to avoid the bounty. You
could also cast a fury spell on her from distance to let everyone else kill
her.
Kill Ennodius
-------------
He is west of Windhelm, near Anga's Mill. Just arrive at night when he sleeps
and smack him.
-----
With all three killed, return to Nazir only to find a scene playing in the
middle room. Feel free to speak to the new character, and then you can chat
with everyone about the new guy in town. Astrid gives you a new contract, but
don't forget to turn in the three you finished to Nazir.
Mourning Never Comes
--------------------
Travel to Markarth and locate Muiri. Listen to all of her sad story to get
two free Lotus Extract poisons.
Let us go to Windhelm first. The easiest way to kill her and most of these
targets is with a fury spell from stealth. You won't get a bounty and everyone
else will kill her for you, even guards and even in a crowded place.
Raldbthar is in the mountains west of Windhelm. Inside there are a few bandits
in your way. You can go around or jump over the flames and pick a locked door,
or go left past some bandits to reach the room where Alain is waiting. He
actualling seems like a low level NPC, so perhaps a fury spell would work on
him. But if you want to throw hands there are three other bandits who will
defend him, and one of them will have a key to Irkngthand, another dungeon.
There is also a skill-up book and tons of loot in the vault area.
You are more than welcome to play the rest of the dungeon out, but we will go
back to Muiri. She will reward you for both marks and then return to HQ.
Whispers in the Dark
--------------------
Go up to the room and unlock the coffin and go in to trigger the scene. And
you can guess what happens next. Speak to them after and you will be asked to
take on two more contracts from Nazir.
Kill Lurbuk
-----------
Travel to Morthal and he will be at the inn. The best time to kill him is when
he's in his room, then you can just hide in the corner by the door and shoot an
arrow at him if you can.
Kill Hern
---------
Half-Moon Mill is north of the brotherhood HQ. You may want to save as Hern
seems to be leveled up. A one-hit kill with bows may be hard without a crit.
I believe at 7am his wife will leave him alone in his shack. You can then
break in, attacking him when he sees you adds a bounty, and killing him will
remove the bounty.
-----
Return to Nazir and Astrid will continue the main story, but remember to turn
in your kills to Nazir.
The Silence Has Been Broken
---------------------------
Volunruud is possibly easier to reach if you steal the horse from the bandits
outside and just west along the cliffs under Whiterun. Then go north.
As soon as you enter there is a note on the floot that will start the quest
Silenced Tongues, which is completely unrelated, and that skeleton should
rise to fight you. For the quest at hand, go left and at the intersection and
speak to Amaund. He makes his request and gives you a few items. Return to
Astrid and she sends you to meet a fence in Riften.
If you are in the Thieves Guild then you will have no trouble finding your
way to Delvin, but if not then you will need to enter the Ratway sewer, kill a
few scumbags, and then go meet with Delvin; you may get dragged into starting
the first quest of the Thieves Guild, which is fine, feel free.
When you get to Delvin he will take the amulet and give you a letter to return
to Astrid for your next assignment.
Bound Until Death
-----------------
Travel to Solitude and make a save. You may want to move time forward to night,
which is about 9 or so. Put on your best sneaking gear and go to the castle
courtyard. To the left will be stairs to the upper walkways. You have two or
three options. The most obvious is to just hide in the corners and shoot an
arrow to hit her when she addresses the crowd. However, this proved to get me
a bounty, though I'm not sure why; I guess maybe they are tweaked to look up
where most NPCs wouldn't have a clue. On the NW side you can drop down to a
lower balcony with arrows, a true shot potion, and a decent bow. But the best
option is to find the loose gargoyle statue to the SW, above where Vittoria
will speak.
The time to take her out is when she moves to the upper balcony and begins to
speak you should push it over when she is in mid-sentence to ensure you get the
bonus. Make sure you don't get a bounty, otherwise reload your save and try
again. Then go left and drop down to that lower balcony where the bow and
arrows are. Veezara should show up and offer to help, which is to say he will
kill the body guard at the wedding and hopefully no one else. If you can
manage to fast travel from the balcony (maybe immediately after you are done
speaking with Veezara) then you should try. Otherwise you'll have to slip down
and away. And maybe if your sneak skill isn't very high you should just stay on
the upper walkways for an easier escape. If your sneak is high and you have the
gear to hide in darkened sight, you can try to loot the bride of her unique
outfit. You can go to the front gate of the city and you will be able to fast
travel.
*NOTE: The body guard also has unique armor, so if Veezara kills him you may
as well take it. Also, if you don't mind waiting a day or two, you can come
back to loot him and the bride. She will be moved to the Solitude Catacombs,
to an unmarked coffin in the walls. His corpse will be where he was killed.*
Return to Astrid for your new spell and gold bonus.
Breaching Security
------------------
Speak to Gabriella, ask her about his schedule, and you are sent to Dragon
Bridge. This small town is south of Solitude. By asking about the schedule you
will have an optional objective pointing you right to it.
When you arrive in town he will have a chat. I'm not sure how the chat
concludes as a dragon came to crash the party. After the dragon was killed
Mr. Maro set off. You can sneak into the outpost and steal the schedule if you
like, but here is what is says:
Morndas - Solitude streets, castle by night
Tirdas - Windhelm palace, barracks by night
Middas - Riften Mistveil Keep
Turdas - Whiterun Dragonsreach, Bannered Mare by night
Fredas - Markarth keep, guard tower by night
Loredas & Sundas - not given
Wherever he goes, putting the note in his pocket before you kill him is a good
idea. It's best to get him outside at night time when it will be easiest to
escape. What happens when he dies is the nearby NPCs will attack you on sight,
though you may not have a bounty. This is why you want to put the note in his
pocket before you kill him, so you can just slip away without worry.
So it would help to have all your pickpocket and archery/dagger kill gear and
some potions. When you go in for both parts be sure to save before. At level
37 a normal bow attack didn't kill him, nor did a fury spell work. I put on
two +25% archery items, equipped ebony arrows, used my Nightingale Bow, and
drank a +50% archery potion. This killed him, but the guards nearby attacked
me even though there was no bounty. I just slipped into shadow, got away, and
fast travelled back. So if archery is not your thing you may need to wait for
him to arrive at the Bannered Mare, his least protective sleeping spot. Or
you can try to get him to fight you to kill him in self-defense; he's still a
tough opponent, so that is why a sneak kill is best, though I'm not sure if
his death still causes nearby to frenzy.
Whatever you do, make sure the Incriminating Note is on his body when you
leave, else you may need to sneak back and plant the note. Though you may need
to put it in his pocket before his body is found. Make sure you kill him in
a city to get the bonus.
Return home and speak with Astrid, then go into the side room and grab the
journal and bring it to her. Then go to Gabriella to get your reward for this
job.
At any time you can take the bonus token to Olava, an old woman to the right as
you enter Whiterun. She will send you to Deepwood Redoubt. You don't need to
go there, and you need some master lockpicking skills to get in anyway. The
reward is just upgraded versions of the armor Astrid gave you and a power word.
Be sure to take Shadowmere, a horse who will appear at the black pool outside
the sanctuary.
The spectral assassin is a power, and it has no time limit so it's essentially
an ally who you can summon as you wish.
* Deepwood Redoubt *
*NOTE: This should be the location of Lisbet's statue in a minor quest in
Markarth.*
*NOTE: A master level door was in the way, so consider bringing some stuff
to boost your skill.*
*NOTE: This is a good time to test the new power you have to summon a ghost
assassin.*
The entrance is covered with a few Forsworn, and inside there will be plenty
more and many traps, including runes in one room. A master level lock is in
your way, as I could tell, so good luck with that. Because of that you may need
to come back for this much later. There are a lot of items tucked away in
almost every corner of this tiny cave.
* Deepwood Vale *
This area is actually outside, and is covered with about 14 forsworn in very
close proximity. Not to make matters any better, a weak dragon flew in, and
he landed in water (if you don't know, you can't attack in water). Lucky for
me I was able to dual-wield, down a few potions, and go to town on everything
in short order. The lower levels and the towers were devoid of loot, but the
boss level forsworn had good loot, including Lisbet's Statue.
There is one good loot stash. It is above where the waterfall is. Go to the
entrance to Hag's End, turn around, and start hoping up the rocks adjacent to
the waterfall and you should be able to hop up. Pick the chest and grab the
boots next to it.
* Hag's End *
Three witches will be protecting a hagraven in the first room, but the witches
are weak and the hagraven will disappear after you start smacking her. There
is some loot in the sleeping room, and in the hall there is a side room with
runes and little loot. Up the steps is a pressure pad and the chest is
trapped with a trigger you can pick. The next room will have two witches with
the hagraven, who will teleport again. I think that book is a skill-up. Go
behind the throne and push the button to reveal the secret area with the
upgrade Brotherhood gear and a chest, but you can only get this if you have
the minor quest from the Dark Brotherhood quest line.
Pull the lever and cross over to kill another witch and then a spider who drops
in the side room. There is a gate ahead with a master lock, and an expert level
trap on the chest. When you open the next gate let the spikes go and then go
up to two witches with the old hag. There are four gems in this room and two
master doors. The cage one has no loot, but the other one just has a single
item. Pull the chain and go up to get a new power word. I had another so
this word made the shout more useful.
Go out the door to have the final meeting with the hagraven. She summons two
wraiths who you need to kill, so either get them first or her first. Loot her
and the chest nearby.
**
If you go get that stuff, just stay in the vale and fast travel to Dawnstar.
*NOTE: I got a letter from a friend telling me to go to a tower for another
power word.*
The Cure for Madness
--------------------
The sanctuary is north of Dawnstar, so feel free to take Shadowmere. He is a
somewhat scary horse as some NPCs won't even be very injured and they will
cower from him. He can die, but he respawns.
*NOTE: If you don't know, owned horses will fast travel with you so long as
you are on them when you do, and from then on they will continue to travel
with you. You can also fast travel when you have more weight than you can run
in so long as you are on a horse.*
*NOTE: If you have it, flame breath is powerful and I assume fire is strong
against these ghosts.*
*NOTE: Feel free to summon your ghost assassin to to help and he may also
provide help in making your decision.*
Speak to Arnbjorn and then use the phrase to gain entry. There are some
jester clothes on the table as you enter. A spirit will attack, and down the
path there is a bridge with spike traps. You can fall back to lure the archer
spirit into the spikes, or just dash/whirlwind sprint over. There are two
skill-up books and a pair of worn shrouded armor down the steps and two
waiting ghosts. There are two more further ahead.
You have to go through the ice tunnel, which has one bear trap, and take the
right side path where it forks. This way you pop up on the top level with the
Troll. Kill it and there is a chest with some fireball scrolls if you needed
them on the troll. In the catacombs there are a few spirits but no real loot
in the few coffins that have something. Two more around the corner, and to
the left is a master chest with good loot. There may be another ghost around
the corner. Then move up to the room with Cicero and make your decision. He
will not come into play until the quest line is over, so it's up to you. He
drops some valuable items, or he can be an ally later. But I assure you the
"correct" thing to do is spare him.
Loot the chest, unbar the door, and use the button on the wall by the steps
to get out quickly. Report to Astrid to complete this quest.
Recipe for Disaster
-------------------
Get the details from Festus and head to the Markarth keep. Give Anton a visit
and intimidate him to get the details, then tell him he is free. Spin the clock
forward to midnight when the kitchen is asleep and kill him. Loot him before
you leave.
*NOTE: I think you can loot a chef's outfit from these guys and look the part
for the next quest.*
The Nightgate Inn is west of Windhelm, and if you haven't been you have been
to Agna's Mill which is a little bit closer. When you get there, find the
hatch at the back of the building to reach the cellar. Just kill him from
stealth, loot him, and drag his body behind the haystack. If he is outside,
drag his body to the water.
*NOTE: Hold A, X, or E to drag.*
Return to Festus and you will get gold and a new ring.
To Kill an Empire
-----------------
*NOTE: If you're wondering, I suppose the only way to get rid of your spectral
friend is to leading him to fight a dragon or very powerful enemy and let him
get destroyed. You can summon him once a day.*
*NOTE: It's best to go north of the brotherhood HQ and tag Roadside Ruins. It
should have a spriggan to kill and a chest.*
Astrid will give you a poison. Go to Solitude and report to Maro. Gianna
inside will have you put on a chef's hat from the shelf nearby. You can tell
her whatever you like, though you probably don't want to remain silent the
whole time less you miss the great reactions. At the fifth time, be sure to add
in the Jarrin Root. Follow her and once you reach the dining hall, stand in the
doorway on the other side of the room. As he goes in to taste it, crouch and be
ready to slip away through the escape route.
Feel free to sneak across the bridge as a chat starts. If you have good sneak
skill you can retreat, possibly even retreat back through the castle. But it
is best if you just kill these three, and then take the spiral stairs down and
outside of the city. You now have a 1500 bounty in this region. When you get
outside, fast travel anywhere close to the old HQ.
*NOTE: I believe the only thing you can do is just go leave your stolen goods
in a chest at a home and pay your bounty. You will know what is stolen by a
little "Stolen" indicator when you scroll through your items. This way you
won't get them taken from you.*
Death Incarnate
---------------
As you approach the sanctuary, Shadowmere or not, you will have to kill a
bunch of agents along the way. Inside there are two agents in the first room,
and then a few more who will kill one of your own. Kill them and continue on
to face a few more. In the dining room you must defend Nazir from his attacker.
Follow him to kill one more agent, and then get into the Night Mother's coffin.
*NOTE: You will most likely have to wait a while longer than you think before
the game resumes. I'm not sure if it's a glitch, because if it is not it is
pretty neat to be honest.*
Once you are saved go speak to Astrid in a new area of her room. Talk to her,
pick up the dagger, and do the deed.
So speak to the Night Mother for you still have work to do.
Hail Sithis!
------------
Go to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. Ask him all three questions, and you will
get the optional objective to kill Maro. Set out for the docks near Solitude,
so you can go to the stables if you like, BUT YOU HAVE A 1500 BOUNTY! So you
may want to sneak, or even go to an area south of Solitude. The abandoned shack
from the first Dark Brotherhood quest will do nicely, or the lover stone.
It is optional but highly recommended you go kill Maro at the docks. The
approach from the SW is highly recommended. With Shadowmere you can ride
across the swamp, dismount, swim to the docks, take the steps up, and use
your best arrow strike or dagger hit. Also you can do this at night time if you
want to ensure a successful escape.
Then you can get back on Shadowmere and go north. Swim to the marker and you
can climb up the anchor chain into the ship. You can sneak through all of the
weak agents, by either watching their patrol patterns and moving accordingly,
or by killing them from stealth. Option #3 is to kill them with brute force.
You'll go up a flight and can pick a lock. In the middle room up the hall
between parallel stairs there is a sub-boss level lieutenant who will have a
key to the ship. Kill him and anyone who comes to help, swipe the key, go up
the stairs, save, and enter the Emperor's Quarters.
And the trick is that he will not fight you. Listen to him to hear some very
curious plot points - perhaps hints of the next game??? Kill him as you wish,
and then loot everything but the stuff in the display cases as those weapons
are junk. The keys will open the door to his room, there should be a nice
item on the shelf, and loot whatever you wish, including some of the more
interesting books you will find. Exit through the side door, hop over, swim to
shore and safety, and head back to Whiterun.
Speak to Amaund and then you can kill him. You could pickpocket them too to
increase your skill, you know, if you are going to kill him anyway - just make
a save file. You do not have to kill him if you don't want to.
Head back to Volunruud and claim your reward in the same room you first met.
You get a rather large payday and can loot the chest. Head to the Dawnstar
Sanctuary and feel free to tell Nazir the truth as you keep it anyway.
Where You Hang Your Enemy's Head...
-----------------------------------
Head to Delvin in Riften, but the Night Mother will give you a new contract as
you leave.
Cicero will meet you outside if you spared him.
When you speak to Delvin you can purchase upgrades for the new sanctuary to
restore it to glory. Your 20,000 septims will actually not go very far as it
costs a total of 19,000 to get all five upgrades, leaving you a net of 1000
gold for killing the most important person on the continent.
Once you get all upgrades, speak to Delvin about more upgrades and the quest
will be completed.
*NOTE: You can speak to the victims in the torture chamber for minor treasure
quests.*
The Dark Brotherhood Forever
----------------------------
As you left the sanctuary the Night Mother gave you a contract in a random
city in Skyrim. This is a repeating quest as the guild is back in business as
brother, business is a-boomin'!
----
One final note, you still have that bounty in Solitude. Best thing is to leave
your stolen stuff at home and go pay the bounty. So for killing the Emperor
you are rewarded with -500 gold, congratz! Actually,
You will have your own room, Babette will sell you potions and has a lot of
coin to barter with, and there are new initiates at the lair. You can take them
or Cicero as allies. Also, the lair is a bit different than when you went
through, and the old ice tunnel is now a path to the front of Dawnstar.
And that is all, happy hunting.
*****************************************************************************
* 10. City Quests ( CIT1010 ) *
*****************************************************************************
The following will be divided by each of the major cities/towns in Skyrim.
Minor quests will be included as well.
In My Time of Need
------------------
Location: Alik'r Warrior at the front gate of Whiterun
An Alik'r Warrior should be chatting with a guard, so stop to hear what is
going on and the guy will give you a quest.
The Redguard woman he is looking for Saadia, found at The Bannered Mare in
Whiterun. Talk to her and follow her to have a chat, so tell her to calm down
and agree to help her. You have two options: turn her in to the Alik'r who are
in a town way to the NW, or go visit the prisoner in Dragonsreach.
Go to the castle and there are steps just to the left of the jarl's throne to
the dungeon, or find the outside door straight to the dungeon from the SE side
of the keep. Speak to the prisoner and learn that you must pay his fine, so
pay it to any guard and then speak to the prisoner again to learn where Kematu
is hiding.
Kematu is far to the west of Whiterun, at Swindler's Den, which should have
just one bandit guarding the front entrance. If you are bow specced, hit the
guy on the left and then snipe the other over and over from the shadows. Not
much loot except for the chest in the light shaft, so head to the next tunnel
where you can one-shot an archer and same sniping from the shadows technique
on the big gal. Some items are in here.
Down the next tunnel you will emerge in a big room, but getting in unnoticed
may be rough. You can try to sneak, but it's better to clear them out. You may
want to sneak the guy sitting at the table, and then just lure the rest into
the tunnel or the previous room one by one. Hiding in the previous room should
clear you from detection. Kill the ones on the ground, grab the coins in the
corner, and sneak to the left through a tunnel to a smaller room with two
goons. Snipe the warrior and the archer will be a tougher kill. Then try for
a sneak kill on the mage up high. Disarm the bear traps nearby.
Follow the path until you hear Kematu. He will talk with you, and you can
either join him and live, or fight seven people who have the high ground on
you. Ask him why he is after her and you may consider joining him. If not,
good luck, but you should know that agreeing to help him is not a betrayal of
Saadia yet; it at least gets you out of here safely. Perhaps you can attack
him after agreeing to help, but that would be foolish too. Whatever you do,
there is a chest that should drop something nice.
Exit the cave and return to Whiterun. Saadia is back at the tavern, so go talk
to her and if you've agreed to turn her in you will lead her outside and to
the stables.
Pick a side - When you are leading her to the stables, Kematu will be on the
other side of the house - alone. The question is will you hand her over, or in
the brief time before he stuns her, will you attack him (a sneak attack will
work)? At level 14 she gave me 500 gold, and he gave me 400 gold; and killing
him gives you his gold, weapons, and armor. Aside from the gold, you may want
to consider if you feel okay letting a traitor go free while possibly betraying
the people in the "good." I think I know how Anakin felt when he betrayed the
Jedi order. After I played the version letting her get captured, I remembered
the quest name and redid it. Tough call if she really did betray her people,
or would torturing/killing her really satisfy anyone? At least you know you
can load the autosave if you want to try both ends.
The Blessings of Nature
-----------------------
Location: Temple of Kynareth, Whiterun, Danica
Estimated level: 10
The temple is near the bottom of the steps to Dragonsreach. Find Danica and
talk about the trees. She will have you get a weapon that will get some sap
from a tree elsewhere.
Fast travel to Helgen (the town the game started at) you can go into town for
some bandit-killing fun. Then go east until you see a dirt road going north -
refer to your map so you don't miss it. Head up the trail, but follow it from
the right side as there will be two witches ahead. There are two more further
up, but also a big boss demon who will launch explosive magic at you, where
not even hiding behind a rock will protect you.
Missing in Action
-----------------
Location: House Gray-Mane, Avulstein
Talk to him and offer to help him find his missing brother who he believes is
held by the Battle-Borns.
The Battle-Born house is just up the road, and you will want to enter through
the door in the back that isn't locked. It may be best to do this after you
become a Thane of Whiterun, you know, when you're like a local hero and guards
won't much care if you commit crimes; or come back at night. There should only
be one person in the Battle-Born house, and you simply need to unlock a door
to find a book. The door may be a bit difficult if you are young into your
game, but just bring plenty of picks. Grab the book and take it back to the
Gray-Mane house.
Avulstein will send you to Northwatch Keep. You can choose three options, but
it's best to volunteer to go alone and to find a peaceful solution. This quest
is way way way to the NW of Whiterun, so most likely from the time you pick
it up you will want to shelve it for later.
Redoran's Retreat
-----------------
Location: Whiterun, Amren
This place is about just west of Whiterun. Snipe the dog and sneak attack the
archer in the first room. There are coins and arrows on a table to the right,
and a chest. Follow the tunnel and try to get a one-shot snipe on the goon to
the right and quickly fall back into the tunnel. As for the family sword, it's
in the chest and you may not need to kill the bandit leader to get it, but you
should be able to get stealth shots and hide in shadow over and over if you
are stealth and archery specced. He drops some good stuff, so it's worth it to
down him, clean out his chest, and grab the potion on the nightstand before
leaving.
Return the sword to Amren.
Silent Moons Camp
-----------------
Location: NW of Whiterun
Not much in the first room, but the bandit leader and a goon should be in the
tunnel, so try to get a sneak shot before unloading. Then you will probably
have to just head straight at the third one at the end. Should just be a chest
near the last enemy, and that is all the loot you can get for free. The rest
is behind the door at the end of the hall. Pick the lock and you can get a
chest and tons of potions; the lever is for the door. Then take the ladder to
arrive outside where you can get one more chest before pulling a chain to be
right back at the front door.
You can turn the quest into Proventus at Dragonsreach in Whiterun.
Womanizer
---------
Location: Whiterun, market area, Carlotta
Carlotta in the market area and she will tell you to talk to Mikael, in the
tavern nearby. You can talk a bit, and then you will have to brawl with him.
Just punch his health bar down, but maybe don't talk to him after, let him
talk to you or he may glitch (you should be able to press pause to fix it).
Then go visit Carlotta for some gold.
Yngol
-----
Location: Winterhold, Birna
You can buy the Coral Dragon Claw from Birna for 50 gold if you hear her sad
story.
Shalidor's Insights
-------------------
Location: Winterhold, Mages College, Urag gro-Shub
The Forsworn Conspiracy
&
No One Escapes From Cidhna Mine
-----------------------
Location: Markarth
*NOTE: If you have some speechcraft items, remember to use them.*
This quest begins when you first enter Markarth and witness a woman being
murdered. You can save the woman, and it will affect the quest. Soon after a
man named Eltrys will talk to you and give you a note saying to meet him at the
Shrine of Talos. It is under the Temple of Dibella. Be sure to loot the key
from Margret's corpse if you didn't save her.
Speak to him and you are asked to help him figure out what is going on. Let's
go to the Warrens first, which is at the bottom of this central rock. Speak to
Garvey about Weylin and ask him for the key to his room. Try all the options
and get the key. His room is the last on the right and you need to loot his
chest for a note and read it; feel free to take the note, gold, and mammoth
tusk. When you go outside a guy will talk to you and then fight with you.
Once you beat him he will reveal who N is.
*NOTE: Do not return to Eltrys until we have all three pieces of evidence.*
Next we need to find out about Margret. If she is alive she will be staying at
the Silver-Blood Inn and you can ask her what she is doing here until she
spills the beans. If she is dead you will have to either use the key you got
from her corpse or pick the lock to her room to get her journal.
Nepos' House is at the top of the town. The maid will try to repel you, but
Nepos will yell to let you in. Go let him speak and then ask him questions. Of
course you didn't think it would be that easy did you? Four enemies will attack
and you want to down them as quickly as possible. After, steal a key and you
can unlock that display, and there is also a book in his room.
*NOTE: Now may be the time to go to Eltrys, but make a save just in case, or
if you want to just get on with it all, let the guards take you to jail.*
Now go to the Treasury House and speak to the receptionist who can be talked
into letting you speak to Thonar. Go speak to him and he will send you away,
but then his wife and the front desk lady will be killed by traitors. I
believe it's only two and then they may reanimate a corpse, so help Thonar
survive the attack. Speak to him to learn more, then loot all the corpses,
including the keys. You can then sneak and steal the contents of the safe
behind the front desk. There is also a book to read.
Make a save file here in case it goes ill. Return to Eltrys and just agree to
go quietly. You can't erase the bounty, so let's just see this through.
-----
In jail you have nothing. Go in and speak to Uraccen by the fire about the
king. Go to Borkul and just fist fight him. If not you'll have to go on a
treasure and speech hunt to get items for this person and that. After you beat
the orc you can go through.
*NOTE: If you want to go Rambo and kill everyone, you can. Your magic is all
there to use, but if you are melee you can dual-wield pickaxes.*
Just tell Madanach you want to get out and he will send you to Braig to hear
his story. Return to Mad and he will ask you to kill Grisvar. You can just walk
up to him and say "Madanach says hello" and then let the other prisoners kill
him. Return to Mad who will hold a speech, and then you can enter the ruins
through the tunnel.
You want to be very careful here not to hit your allies (like by using magic)
or they will all turn on you. Just let them handle the spiders and then
spheres. In the room with the spheres there will be some loot in the room area
below. Then meet up by the door and you will get your gear back and some new
light armor.
OR you could kill them all at any point and when you go outside Thonar will
give you a ring. If you don't kill Mad then he and his goons will go on a
rampage and kill anyone in the streets. I believe most NPCs will be inside as
the fight happens, but if they do die consider reloading from inside the ruins
and see if it doesn't happen again.
Regardless, your bounty will be lifted.
The Book of Love
----------------
Location: Temple of Mara, Riften
Dinya Balu is found at the Temple of Mara in Riften. Agree to help her do
Mara's will.
You will be sent to Ivarstead, which you would have passed through on your
way to High Hrothgar in the main quest. Otherwise it's a long trek west of
Riften.
Find Fastred who should be by the farm in town. Tell her you'll help
and you
can go to her mother and father to hear the full story. You can then
talk to
either Klimmek or Bassianus to let them know what needs to happen in
order to
love Fastred and please her parents - one of them at least. It's
tough if she
is in her house when it is locked as the guy will just barge
inside while you
have to stay outside or commit trespass. If that is the case
you had best just
forget hearing the conversation and return to Dinya.
*NOTE: After seeing the other two play out, I forget if I had to follow the
guy to see them hook up. I picked my way into the house and had to pay a
fine,
so be more subtle if you must or wait for her to be outside, especially
if you
want to see the conversation play out.*
Dinya will give you another task. Go to Markarth and visit the keep to find
Calcelmo to the left. He will send you to Yngvar who is the housecarl of the
keep, so go meet him by the throne down the middle of the keep. Buy the poem
off him for 200 gold and then go find Faleen. She may be at Solitude depending
on some of the business with the Stormcloaks controlling Markart, so you may
need to fast travel to the palace in Solitude to deliver the note. Otherwise
she should be in Markarth. She will give you a note in return and then take
it to Calcelmo to cement the bond. Though it would be hilarious to watch this
old man run from here to Solitude, we must return to Riften.
*NOTE: It actually isn't funny if he runs to Solitude as the quest may or may
not complete once you give the letter to him. You may have to fast travel to
Solitude and see them connect, then go to Dinya.*
Return to Dinya and she will give you an Amulet of Mara. Put it on and go to
a
site to the far west of Whiterun. You'll arrive at a monument where you can
talk with a ghost. Tell her the battle was a long time ago and you will get a
quest marker to the NE. Fast travel closer if you can and go to Fenrig.
Hopefully you won't have a dragon on you and another in the distance. Say you
will reunite the two and fast travel back to the monument to see them reunite.
Return to Dinya and you will receive a permanent buff of +15% magic resist.
*****************************************************************************
* 11. Settlement Quests ( SET1111 ) *
*****************************************************************************
Half of the challenge in these quests is just finding the place in the wild
to pick them up. I'll state the quest, settlement, and probably a general
direction or two.
Minor quests will be included as well.
Love Triangle
-------------
Location: Riverwood, Faendal
Seek out Faendal, a roaming wood elf archer who will train you in marksmanship,
for a cost, and then you can find out about a love triangle with Camilla. You
have two options: give the letter to Camilla or give it to Sven, the one
Faendal is trying to defame.
You can find Sven in the inn. When you first meet him, be sure to ask how he
plays so well to get a tracker for the bard's college.
Solutions:
Give the letter to Camilla as a lie for Faelden who will give you a
small gold reward.
Give the letter to Camilla to expose Faelden, which will direct you to
Sven for a small gold reward.
Give the letter to Sven.
Whoever you help will gain either Sven or Faelden as recruitable allies, a
feature that is easier to use than in Oblivion. They are helpful, but they
could be more annoying than you realize. I'm not sure if they can die, but I
do know you can kill them yourself with friendly fire.
I also assume that by exposing Faelden you will lose the ability to train with
him, so consider buying all of his training before betraying him.
Shroud Hearth Barrow
--------------------
Location: Ivarstead
Down the steps you will be haunted by a ghost to the right. Loot the corpses
and go left to read a book and grab some stuff. There are four levers, but the
inner two are the ones you need. Stand between the pairs of levers, look to
the chest, pull the one on the left, and then the one on the right to open the
two gates (if you are somehow confused, just know that one locks the nearest
gate while the other either opens or closes both).
Head through and pull the chain, but wait for the trap to spring before moving
on. Open the door ahead and around the corner will be a spectre named
Wyndelius. Use flame and then smack him to reveal his true form. Loot him and
his office, and read and take his journal. If you head back out, no use going
down the other hall. Feel free to pick the locked door on your way back, but
watch for the pressure pad on the floor as you loot a corpse and chest.
Take the journal to Wilhelm at the inn and he will give you the claw you need.
Open your misc. items and inspect the claw to see a butterfly, owl, and wolf
pattern going out to in. Return to the tunnel with the big door and replicate
the pattern on the claw to the door and insert the claw in the middle.
There is a tome on the pedestal, and perhaps when you approach the doorway it
will lock and a Draugr emerges behind you, or it only happens if you go to the
right, but if it does you just need to kill the undead and then pull a lever
in the corner. Go ahead and step on the hatch to drop into the water for loot
at the bottom, then pull the chain above to get out.
Take the first side door and careful of the trap pad which puts darts in down
the corridor. Around the corner is a skeleton, but the pad on the floor is not
a trap. In the next room you should sneak up and pull out a bow. The archers
below are standing in oil, and if you look up you can see candles hanging from
a brazier on the ceiling. Hit those hanging candles to fry the skeletons. Loot
them and when you go up the ramp be ready for two Draugr to burst out of the
walls. Just lead them to the pit and burn them with your own magic. Go back up
the first ramp and look at the black metal panel. On the right is a switch to
activate, and move out of the way as you press it as the door will drop to
reveal a way to the secret area for some loot.
Go up and in the next hall will be a Draugr down teh corridor and then a blade
trap will block your path. Snipe him and run past the blades. Pull chain on
the left to stop the blades, and then get a sneak strike on the dormant Draugr
in the corner. I believe there is another Draugr in here, and when you move up
three more will appear and the doors will lock. Kill the small ones first and
burn the restless one to get a key.
Move into the sewer and pull the chain to the left for a purse under the water,
and then grab the gem in an alcove in the middle. Go up the ramp to see a
puzzle. Go stealth and open the door to get the first strike on the restless
Draugr inside. Loot the place and just know that by standing on the pad in
here, the covers to the four symbols will rotate to reveal the order. I'll
let you know the order is dolphin, eagle, snake, dolphin from left to right,
then stand on the pad to drop the bridge.
I believe the pressure pad and the rope traps will not work, so just stealth
kill the archer and the threats will be null. To the right will be some loot
and a door to open, and inside will be a gold ingot on a trap, so stand to the
side. There should be a few items up the path and then enter the depths.
Shroud Hearth Depths - When you enter the room the door will lock you in. Go
stealth and wait next to a brazier on the side of the entrance. This is where
a stealth/bow spec can really shine. By this point I had an orcish bow and
invested in the two power perks for bows. With a good stealth rating I was
able to just sit at next to a brazier of fire and snipe everything; they
didn't even see me when they came to investigate, but you could slip behind
the braziers if you must. They don't all pop up at once, but there are a few
in the middle, one on each platform on the sides, some at the back, and more
pop up as you tally up kills. Once the middle tomb up ahead opens you will
have the boss to deal with. I was able to snipe him and hide behind the
brazier until he was dead, and I doubt he saw me once.
It's almost more trouble than it's worth to loot the dead, but loot the boss
and the Draugrs, then move on. Items will be to the sides of the chest,
touching the chest, and inside the chest, but feel free to disarm the trap by
picking the wire, or just move out of the way after. Cross the bridge and
approach the glyph to gain a new power. Take the right door and follow the
path to return to Wyndelius' office, and from there make your way topside.
*****************************************************************************
* 12. Marriage / Special Quests ( SPQ1212 ) *
*****************************************************************************
This section will tell you about all the other cool things you can do.
========
The List
========
I'm hoping this is useful. This is a list of all the crap you should hold onto
that you come across. Not all of them are critical, but if you can carry them
I would advise it.
Bear Pelts 10
Jazbay Grapes 20
Crimson Nirnroot 30
Flawless Ruby 1
Silver Ingot 1
Vampire Dust 1
Deathbell 1
========
Marriage
========
You need a few things in order to marry someone:
Get an Amulet of Mara. You may have one if you went to Bleak Falls Barrow
in
the course of the Dragonborn or Civil War main quests, so check to see if
you have one at the top of your apparel tab. You can also buy one from
Maramal
for a small price.
You could also do the quest for the priest at the temple of
Mara, Dinya Balu.
The quest is called The Book of Love, and upon completion you
will get an
amulet. Of course buying one from Maramal is quicker and faster as
you will
pay 200 gold during the course of that quest anyway. But it is a nice
quest
with a good reward. So you may as well do the quest if you need an
amulet.
Next, find the person you want to wed. This is usually any of the more notable
NPCs that you do quests for. You can't marry anyone, but for instance you can
marry Lydia, your ally from the Whiterun main quests, or Camilla from the
Riverwood Trader after you get the Golden Claw back from Bleak Falls Barrow.
There are plenty of eligible men as well, and it does not matter your race
or
gender. Yep, however you want to roll is how the eligible NPCs will roll
too -
they're just head over heels about you! I'll provide a list of names for
NPCs
and where they are located below.
After you have a happy NPC who will wed you, go find Maramal at The Bee and
Barb tavern in Riften. Tell him to arrange a wedding and go to the Temple
of Mara on the east side of Riften. Use the wait feature to speed time ahead
until any time after 7 am of the following day (or that day if you spoke to
Maramal after midnight but before dawn).
Feel free to unequip your deadly
gear and weapons and put on something formal,
like the clothes of Ulfric
Stormcloak, or whatever. You will be put into the
right place as Maramal
starts.
*NOTE: If you are playing a female and want to role-play this as best you can,
there is a wedding dress you can swipe during the course of a Dark Brotherhood
quest, of all things.*
After marriage you two will need a place to stay together. Speak to your new
spouse after the wedding and you can either agree to live at his/her place or
at any of your homes. You should probably agree to go to your spouse's house
at first, at least to have a free key and access to it; maybe even to take
what you can without it being stealing.
Your spouse will start a business, though without a shop you can imagine what
she is doing while you're away... and from time to time you will want to
collect your pimp's share from her.
*NOTE: Like once I married Camilla, I was able to go into the Riverwood Trader
and take a few things, but some stuff was still considered stealing.*
Female City NPCs
----------------
Ratings are just my opinion. Housecarls seem to require you take them on some
adventures. Perhaps all mercenaries also require some travelling before they
like you as well.
* Whiterun *
Name: Ria
Race: Imperial
Rating: 3
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete Companion's quest line.
Name: Njada
Race: Nord
Rating: 2
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete Companion's quest line.
Name: Aela
Race: Nord
Rating: 5
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete Companion's quest line.
Name: Jenassa
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Location: Drunken Huntsman
Task: hire her once.
Name: Lydia
Race: Nord
Rating: 4
Location: Dragonsreach or Breezehome
Task: become thane of Whiterun
Name: Uthgerd
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: Bannered Mare
Task: challenge her to a fist fight and win.
Name: Ysolda
Race: Nord
Rating: 5
Location: market area
Task: complete her quest. You'll find mammoth tusks in the mage college.
* Solitude *
Name: Jordis
Race: Nord
Rating: 3
Location: Proudspire Manor
Task: become thane of Solitude.
Name: Taarie
Race: High Elf
Rating: 1
Location: Radiaent Raiments
Task: complete her quest.
* Markarth *
Name: Ghorza gra-Bagol
Race: Orc
Rating: -1 (lol)
Location: Blacksmith Shed
Task: complete her quest.
Name: Muiri
Race: Breton
Rating: 4
Location: Hag's Cure
Task: complete her quest; Dark Brotherhood quest line.
Name: Anwen
Race: Redguard
Rating: 1 (she stays at the temple)
Location: Temple of Dibella
Task: complete the quest in the temple.
Name: Orla
Race: Nord
Rating: 1 (she stays at the temple)
Location: Temple of Dibella
Task: complete the quest in the temple.
Name: Senna
Race: Breton
Rating: 4
Location: Temple of Dibella
Task: complete the quest in the temple.
* Windhelm *
Name: Viola
Race: Imperial
Rating: 1
Location: Candlehearth Hall
Task: begin the quest for Revyn Sadri and tell Viola.
Name: Shahvee
Race: Argonian
Rating: 1
Location: Argonian Assemblage
Task: complete her quest.
* Winterhold *
Name: Brelyna
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Location: College of Winterhold
Task: complete her quests.
* Riften *
Name: Grelka
Race: Nord
Rating: 2
Location: market
Task: complete her quest.
Name: Iona
Race: Nord
Rating: 4
Location: Honeyside
Task: become thane of Riften.
Name: Mjoll
Race: Nord
Rating: 4
Location: Aerin's house
Task: complete her quest.
Female Settlement NPCs
----------------------
Name: Aeri
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Settlement: Anga's Mill
Location: west of Windhelm
Task: chop wood for her.
Name: Avrusa
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Settlement: Sarethi Farm
Location: between Ivarstead and Riften; across the lake east of Ivarstead
Task: complete her quest.
Name: Borgakh
Race: Orc
Rating: 1
Settlement: Mor Khazgur
Location: west of Solitude
Task: get her to become an ally.
Name: Camilla
Race: Imperial
Rating: 5
Settlement: Riverwood
Location: southeast of Whiterun
Task: complete her brother's quest.
Name: Dravynea
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Settlement: Kynesgrove
Location: south of Windhelm
Task: complete her quest.
Name: Gilfre
Race: Imperial
Rating: 2
Settlement: Mixwater Mill
Location: along the river that is between Windhelm and Ivarstead
Task: chop wood for her.
Name: Sylgja
Race: Nord
Rating: 5
Settlement: Shor's Stone
Location: north of Riften
Task: complete her quest.
Name: Temba
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Settlement: Ivarstead
Location: on the east side of the mountain if you drew a line from Whiterun to
Riften
Task: complete her quest.
Male City NPCs
--------------
Me: Alright, who would I go gay for? LOL
But seriously, most men are either working all day, drunk, old, or balding -
and several are all of the above...
* Whiterun *
Name: Athis
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete the Companions quest line.
Name: Farkas
Race: Nord
Rating: 2
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete the Companions quest line.
Name: Torvar
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete the Companions quest line.
Name: Vilkas
Race: Nord
Rating: 2
Location: Jorrvaskr
Task: complete the Companions quest line.
* Solitude *
Name: Sorex
Race: Imperial
Rating: 2
Location: Winking Skeever
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Octieve
Race: Breton
Rating: -5
Location: Winking Skeever
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Belrand
Race: Nord
Rating: -1
Location: Winking Skeever
Task: hire him once.
* Markarth *
Name: Vorstag
Race: Nord
Rating: 3
Location: Silver-Blood Inn
Task: hire him once.
Name: Cosnach
Race: Breton
Rating: 1
Location: Silver-Blood Inn
Task: beat him in a fist fight.
Name: Omluag
Race: Breton
Rating: 3
Location: Markarth smelter
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Moth gro-Bagol
Race: Orc
Rating: 2
Location: Understone Keep
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Argis
Race: Nord
Rating: 4
Location: Vlindrel Hall
Task: thane of Markarth.
* Windhelm *
Name: Revyn
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Location: Sadri's Used Wares
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Quintus
Race: Imperial
Rating: 2
Location: The White Phial
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Stenvar
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: Candlehearth Hall
Task: hire him once.
Name: Angrenor
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: Candlehearth Hall
Task: give him gold.
Name: Calder
Race: Nord
Rating: 3
Location: Hjerim
Task: become thane of Windhelm.
Name: Scouts-Many-Marshes
Race: Argonian
Rating: 2
Location: Argonian Assemblage
Task: complete his quest.
* Winterhold *
Name: Onmund
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: College of Winterhold
Task: complete his quest.
* Riften *
Name: Romlyn
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Location: Black-Briar Meadery
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Marcurio
Race: Imperial
Rating: 5
Location: The Bee and the Barb
Task: hire him once.
Name: Balimund
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: forge in market area
Task: complete his quest.
* Morthal *
Name: Benor
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Location: guard house
Task: beat him in a fist fight.
Male Settlement NPCs
--------------------
Name: Ainethach
Race: Breton
Rating: 1
Settlement: Karthwasten
Location: it's way NE of Markarth, NE of the Lover stone
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Derkeethus
Race: Argonian
Rating: -5 (he will man his shop every day)
Settlement: Darkwater Crossing
Location: in the south edge of the geyser fields south of Windhelm
Task: rescue him from Darkwater Pass.
Name: Sondas
Race: Dark Elf
Rating: 1
Settlement: Darkwater Crossing
Location: in the south edge of the geyser fields south of Windhelm
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Wilhelm
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Settlement: Ivarstead
Location: on the east side of the mountain if you drew a line from Whiterun to
Riften
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Erik
Race: Nord
Rating: 3
Settlement: Rorikstead
Location: far east of Markarth
Task: complete his quest to hire him.
Name: Filnjar
Race: Nord
Rating: -1
Settlement: Shor's Stone
Location: north of Riften
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Ghorbash
Race: Orc
Rating: -5
Settlement: Dushnikh Yal
Location: southeast of Markarth
Task: get him to become an ally.
Name: Perth
Race: Breton
Rating: 1
Settlement: Soljund's Sinkhole
Location: far east of Markarth, but before Rorikstead (it's a single house)
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Roggi
Race: Nord
Rating: 1
Settlement: Kynesgrove
Location: south of Windhelm
Task: complete his quest.
Name: Gat
Race: Orc
Rating: 1
Settlement: mines near Markarth
Location:
Task: complete Pavo's quest.
Name: Pavo
Race: Imperial
Rating: 1
Settlement: mines near Markarth
Location:
Task: complete Pavo's quest.
Sleeping Tree Cave
------------------
If you marry Ysolda you may be interested in this minor quest. The camp is
located way west of Whiterun, and due north of the very west end of the lake
to the south.
There may be a giant outside, but the cave is where you want to go. Inside
there is a giant. Giants are nothing to sneeze at; he will inflict massive
damage on you if you are not ready. But there is one trick. Inside and to the
right will be some rocks. You can hide on those rocks and he will never be
able to hit you. Of course he will also hide when you go up there, but you
can dangle yourself on the edge to lure him into view and then quickly get
back as he nears.
Once dead, loot the chest and the body. Read the message, grab the sap you
can in here, and bring it to Ysolda. Wife or no, she will pay you for the sap
and any more you can find.
A Return to Your Roots
----------------------
Location: Blackreach, or any Crimson Nirnroot
I suppose you could find any Crimson Nirnroot and this quest will begin, but
I found this one while on the "Elder Knowledge" main quest, which takes a
long time. This root was to the left at the beginning of the area.
However you get your root, you need to enter Sinderion's Field Laboratory. To
do this you either need to or already cleared Alftand and opened the lift
inside of Blackreach. The entrance to the lab is just inside of Blackreach,
across from the exit back into Alftand.
*NOTE: If you haven't been here, it is a place crossed in the main quest.
Alftand is in the mountains, SW of Winterhold. I imagine you could clear
Alftand and open the lift in anticipation of when you need to go further for
the main quest.*
In the lab you will find two chests, a crimson nirnroot, tons of other herbs
and edibles, a free piece of gear, and the book in the body telling you to
find 30 samples. You should find as many in Blackreach, but you'll be on a
long, lonely, dark trek. The ideal way to handle this is to grab a handful
when in the main quest, and then days later return to finish this when the
roots have respawned. You will find one in the lab, and one in the pumping
station at the west end of the cave (in the water, turn the valves). Other
than that I'm sure there are one or two in the other buildings (Hall of
Rumination, Reeking Tower, Silent Ruin).
Once you have 30, head to the Sarethi Farm, midway between Riften and the
settlement of Ivarstead. Give her the roots and she will give you a book and
an ability that gives a 25% chance of creating two alchemy potions.
Geirmund's Hall
---------------
Location: East of Ivarstead, middle of lake
Enter Geirmund's Hall and there will be two rats to stealth shoot and a body
to loot; read the book on the corpse to gain a quest tracker. Drop down the
hole and get up the ramp and jump across the gap to find a coin purse, urn,
and book. Follow the waterway to a chest and urn. Back and through the door
will be two spiders waiting. Unlock the door on the right for armor and a
potion. Careful down the hall as there is a flame trap over the chest on the
left, so open from the side, and there is a pressure pad at the turn in the
hall for poison darts.
In the catacombs you will fight three Draugr, so loot them and the three urns
tucked in corners. Careful if you pick up that soul gem as a skull trap will
bash you from the left if you aren't looking, which will then raise a fourth
Draugr. To get past the door ahead you need the pillars to looks like this in
order: eagle, dolphin, snake, dolphin, which corresponds to the pattern near
the entrance.
Past the door you should be able to sneak kill three Draugr. There is a coin
purse in the water on the right, stuff on the shelf to the left, a coin burn
in the left corner, and then go up the ramp to shoot down an archer Draugr
above. Find the urn by the body up here, the steel mace in the brazier on the
left, and then take the key from the corpse. The key opens the door behind you,
which has a Draugr and spider waiting. Kill them, grab the gem, potion, potion
and urn to the right, and helm on the shelf to the left; feel free to use the
enchanting altar.
Up the steps will be another restless Draugr, and then take the items in the
alcove. Up ahead will be a lever on the ground, which is a trap, so look
behind it for a lever on the wall and pull that. Cross over to the middle
platform and when you pull this lever you should back up behind the column.
The Draugr seem to not want to come get you, so if you peek around the corner
and snipe the undead archer you will be free to snipe the other two undead
from safety. Loot them and pass the bladed hallway unscathed.
You should save. Drop down and get a look at the field. There two platforms
and an alcove, and equip your bow. Go up the ramp on the right and a Sigdis
Gauldurson will emerge. Get a shot or two on him before he teleports away, and
then quickly move to behind the pillar on the right and sneak. There are three
visions of him, but one true form. His true form will have damage on his
health bar, and if you are a decent sneaker you should be able to look from
behind the pillar without being shot at. Just aim over all three until one
has some damage on it, and then fire at that one until all three swap places.
You can hit the dummies if you want, but no point unless they are firing at
you. It's criminal if you can keep getting stealth shots on him and win this
fight without taking any damage.
Loot his bow and read his note. There are a few potions around his tomb, and
then head up the tunnel for a chest, items around it, and items on the shelf.
Follow the tunnel to a lever, pull it, and you are back to the start.
===================
Dragon Priest Masks ( DPM1212 )
===================
The Dragon Priests are all very tough, tougher than most boss type enemies you
will face. For this reason, I would suggest getting these after you have a
fairly strong character build. You may even want to get these after you've
done all or most of the guilds. And one of the masks can ONLY be obtained
during the Dragonborn quest,
It should go without saying that potions of all shapes and sizes should be
taken. Bring appropriate gear and potions for their spell of choice. But if
you are higher level you may not need to worry so much.
I will say one thing, consider going after Morokei first either before or
after you get the other words for the shout Slow Time. This is a valuable
shout in killing the priests. All you need to do is pick a side in the war and
you'll get a word in the dungeon Korvanjund. Another is in Deepwood Redoubt
SW of Solitude, west of Dragon Bridge. The final word is before you reach
Morokei. In order to get to Morokei you must join the College of Winterhold, so
it would make sense to join and get it out of the way. But again, I would
caution you to get decently leveled up before going after any of these.
I think masks can be worn on top of head item, that or it just incorrectly
displays my mask and cowl as being equipped.
Morokei, the Wooden Mask, Slow Time, and The Staff of Magnus
------------------------------------------------------------
Mask: +100% magicka regen
Armor: light
Spell of Choice: Shock
Morokei can only be reached during the next-to-last quest for the College of
Winterhold, where you obtain the item necessary to enter the Labyrinthian.
The Labyrinthian is south of Morthal and in the first little hut once you
reach the outer ruins will have the Wooden Mask, something that is also
necessary to get all the Masks. You will also find a note there.
Below will be the cut and paste entry from the College quest line.
-----
*NOTE: Regardless of your spec, I say bring some good archery stuff, shock
resist stuff, and maybe some really strong scrolls. Casters should also bring
plenty of mana and health potions.*
The Labyrinthian is SE of Morthal, so take a carriage if you must and head out.
I took a strange path almost directly south of Morthal, climbed up some rocks
under the dungeon entrance, and popped up right next to the door. On a separate
character I recall two ice trolls being along the normal path through the ruins
so you may want to consider my sneaky way in. You'll see a ghost before you
enter and soon a little scene will play out before you can enter.
*NOTE: Though there are a lot of trolls to cut through, you may want to go
near the front of the outer ruins. There is a small dome-shaped hut and inside
is a note next to a Wooden Mask. It's not very important for now, but once
you have the mask from the final boss of the upcoming dungeon it will be a
little more meaningful. See Dragon Priest Masks for more details.*
There are a ton of skeletons to loot, some urns, and a tome on the table. Up
ahead will be a locked gate and you can see about ten skeletons waiting for
you. If you are range then just open the gate and quickly burn them without
going too far in and triggering the Skeletal Dragon. Do not panic if it does,
just kill the weak skeletons with the casters being the strongest. The dragon
is weak against fire and is not very tough, though you want to kill it
quickly. There are some urns along the sides of this cave, but they aren't
worth the time. Up ahead will be a scene and a tablet, then go into the next
zone.
There is a chest tucked in the right corner, and down the path you will be
sapped of your mana for a moment. Hit the draugr before it wakes, grab the
tome, and when ready hit the door with a fire spell and kill the spirit that
comes out. In the next cave there are two draugr, and somehow you may trigger
another mana sapping. Midway down you can go left to run down a hall with two
draugr and ends in a room with some loot, including a tome.
Come back to the main cave and there is another draugr down the descending
path. But take the high road into a room with one draugr and another one who
is asleep near the rubble. There are some potions on the edge of the upper
area, some stuff in the rubble, a ring on the table with the urn, and a gem
you need to jump up and grab on the shelf. Down the path is a chest in a little
alcove by a body, there is a nirnroot to the right to the lowest part of the
previous cave, and then go left to the next zone.
*NOTE: I'm not going to point out every mana sap, so just expect them give time
to regen if you need mana.*
There are two undead in a tiny room. Pick the lock and go down the sewer to
find a stash of treasure. You'll drop off on the correct path, and you don't
have to go up the steps to face the enemy you missed. Just follow the stream
and in the pit you will face a troll. Fire is strong against these things if
you didn't know. There is a chest in the corner.
In the next area there are two skeletons below, and two more above the gate.
Go left over the bridge and a troll will be waiting. There is one more at the
end of the tunnel who guards two urns and a chest. Return to the gate and go
through to collect some loot, including a chest up the steps. The wisps are not
enemies, or at least I was able to sneak through them and they didn't summon
the wispmother - so save before you cross over. If you do face her I suggest
drinking a frost resist potion and focus fire on her. I cast a blizzard spell
which didn't do much, so fire is the element of choice.
Up ahead will be a door you need to cast a frost spell on, then deal with
the spirit that comes out. A scene will play in the room ahead and you can
dispatch the undead as it rolls. I suppose you could fall down the trap hole
up ahead, or just go around and face the undead in the room. You'll come up
to the bottom of the drop anyway, where it looks like a troll was killed and
was intended to be for you. Kill whatever remains and take the door out.
Down the hall will be a few undead, a chest, and a tome. The next hall will
have two gem turrets that you need to quickly take off their pedestals to
stop the damage, and don't step on the run at the doorway. There are two
undead in the cave, and two more above you in the tower. There is some ore at
the bottom of the water. Down the hall you can take a left to pick a door to
grab a nifty few items off the dead guys.
The next room has a power word wall and a boss, though do not be surprised if
a dog from the next room joins in. Burn the boss and get the word. The next
room has a bunch of undead, so sneak in, let your mana get sapped, and retreat
to refill if you must. There are a few items on the other side, and then make
your way to the final room.
Morokei is a dragon priest with a dragon mask and the staff, though he uses
his own magic. I believe he has a spell to turn any conjured allies against
you, maybe only in close range. The biggest threat is his instant-strike
shock spell, and like all shock spells it will eat up magicka.
To damage him you must kill the two mages powering his shield. Before you do
that you may want to go up and around to pick up a few chests near the exit
door. Open it and a final ghost scene should roll.
Your biggest advantage - your only advantage - is that there are so many
levels to this place that you can easily slip away from him in stealth. He is
supposed to return to his starting spot when he loses you, so I would suggest
staying in stealth almost the entire time. Unless you are very high level and
have an end tree perk or two, I would suggest using the chipping strategy.
Fully-specced melee users may want to try a more direct approach.
What this means is get to the top right corner of the top level, with the
stairs to your immediate right. From there you can get two arrows on him
pretty easily: once from his starting spot and once or twice while he's going
across the first bridge. Then you retreat to the left corner of the top level,
and Moro will investigate the corner you vacated. Take point atop the steps
and try to get two arrows in him before retreating to the door below. Then get
a few more arrows in him before retreating down the exit tunnel.
I would not suggest trying to lure him down the entire exit tunnel, and it's up
to you if you let him return to his starting spot. This strategy is very time-
consuming, but then again this boss will be hard to face for the uninitiated.
The doesn't regen health, so you could take all day if needed and you should
eventually win this war of attrition. If you want to see if your regular
combat tactics will work, feel free to engage him to start, but when things go
FUBAR you should retreat to the top level, crouch, and try to slip away.
Morokei prefers range, so powerful melee users may be able to get close and
stun/stagger him a few times. I know the destro perk Impact will work to
stun him. I didn't get to the point of trying a paralysis, but he resisted all
other poisons.
When he's down to 40% or so of his health, feel free to run in and try your
normal combat moves. So an hour later, loot his corpse and you are free to
leave. You will run into an enemy on your way down the exit tunnel, who will
be good practice for the staff if you want. The Staff of Magnus is strong
against casters. There is one chest in there and a piece of jewelry on a plate
next to the door. When outside you may need to kill a troll to fast travel, or
slip away and return to Winterhold.
*NOTE: The mask of Morokei is one of the final masks of the Dragon Priests.
See Dragon Priest Masks for more details. Oh yeah, don't forget the wooden
mask from outside and at the front of the ruins is needed too. May as well
grab it on your way out if you didn't already.*
Nahkriin and The World-Eater's Eyrie
------------------------------------
Mask: +50 magicka, -20% destro and resto cost
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: Frost
This can only be obtained during the Dragonborn quest line. If you already
completed it and don't recall killing the boss at the portal or don't have the
mask in your coffers, then you will not be able to gain this mask or the final
mask. It doesn't mean you should not get the other 7, they are powerful if you
can use them.
The below is taken straight from the main quest, picking up right after the
dragon ride.
-----
*NOTE: Higher level characters may find it easier to stand and fight than
lowbies.*
The area is not secure. Ahead are a bunch of Draugr and I believe at least two
dragons who will attack you as you try to make your way to the temple ahead.
Now I wasn't really interested in fighting, so I just ran past everything, went
around a corner, hopped up a broken part of the steps, and jumped into the
temple before taking any real damage while running; I took a lot of damage
trying to kill a dragon so I realized it wasn't going to happen.
Inside the temple are a few potions and some urns. Up the left path you should
see some pressure pads and a waiting Draugr ahead. Killing him with stealth
will draw the attention of a nearby undead, and there is a third to the right.
There are plenty of urns in the middle of this part. Move up and there will
be another Draugr. He's the only one at first, but after he is dead there
will be four more to appear from coffins on the side. You can stealth kill
all of them if you want. Turn the pillars to have all eagles facing north, and
when you pull the lever the right door should open to reveal a chest. Then
turn the middle pillar once to have a snake in the middle and pulling the
lever should open the left door to let you proceed.
Ahead will be a small alter room with one Draugr below. Don't try to sneak
up on him because another zombie will appear and blow your cover, so just go
for ranged kills on him. You may want to lure all three up the steps and
shout them back because falling at distance will hurt more. Grab the chest and
the urns before heading forward. There are spiders in the hall, but nothing
too difficult. When you reach a door, look in the webbing to the right for a
hidden chest.
Through the door will be two Draugr. There's an urn and chest on the floor.
There are three pillars: two on the top and one on the floor. From left to
right they should show: dolphin, snake, eagle - matching the symbol and
direction of the symbols near them. Open the urns before you take the door.
There are three archers in the room ahead. Clear them and go up and around.
When you reach a room with a winding staircase, watch for the pressure pad
that will drop a fire on the oil and shoot darts. There are urns and a shelf
before you go up. In stealth, open the door and a Draugr will drop from a
coffin, so stand back and shoot an arrow to drop the fire on the oil. This
should burn him and a pal or two of his in there, then take them all out as
you wish. There's a chest and lever.
The lever opens the path, and through it you will notice oil ahead, so look
carefully at the floor and avoid the trap triggers that look like gears. Take
the stuff in the chest and up the next corridor will be a boss Draugr waiting.
He is probably easy fodder if you are stealth and archery specced, but however
you defeat him, take his key. Open your Misc. item tab and examine the claw
to see the pattern. From top to bottom it should go wolf, dragonfly, dragon,
and then insert the key in the door. There are two skeletons to search, a new
shout to learn, a room to plunder, and then a door leading back outside.
*NOTE: Obviously, DON'T JUMP INTO THE PORTAL UNTIL HE'S DEAD. LOL I'm too lazy
to move the words around.*
Just run left, turn the corner, go up the steps, and run into the portal. If
you do this you will skip the fight with the dragon priest Nahkriin and forfeit
completing the unofficial quest to gain all the dragon masks. He uses ice
spikes and summons minions, and you may want to get your best hits in on him
as you see him and before he grabs his staff. You will also, of course, want
to clear any and all enemies before you take him on. Kill everything, kill him,
grab the mask, and hop in the portal.
Krosis and Throw Voice
----------------------
Mask: +20% lockpicking, archery, alchemy
Armor: light
Spell of Choice: Fire
Shearpoint is NE of Whiterun, north of Fellglow Keep atop the mountain, and you
can approach from the west. Be sure to save before you get too close. The Call
Dragon shout or Dragonrend will be helpful. Stealth is not an option here,
and be sure to park a horse fall down the slope if you don't want it to die.
There is a dragon protecting the word wall and the Krosis is right there too.
Approaching from the west and navigating up the rocks is not required, but it
does seem to work best if you can get on the west side of the word wall and
take care of the dragon first by using the wall as cover. Then you just whip
out your bow, use dragonrend, and you will kill the dragon easy enough. If are
not an archer or mage, then behind the wall will only be a good spot to gather
yourself and heal. Without range you'll just need to jump out and go after the
dragon when it lands, with or without the dragonrend shout; and try to do so
when the priest is not in line of sight.
After the dragon is dead, then turn to the priest. He uses fireballs and he
will use the area of effect on the spell by shooting them to your feet. As you
will know in fighting all priests, they do not like melee range.
Volsung
-------
Mask: waterbreathing, 20% better prices, 20 more carry weight
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: Frost
He is intended as the final boss of the dungeon Volskygge. However, you can cut
straight to he and the word wall from outside. Volskygge is SW of Solitude, but
go further west to find Pinefrost tower. Climb up the east side of the
mountain and if you are on a horse dismount at the top. Climb down the jagged
rocks and you will see a sarcophagus in front of the word wall. You have all
the time to prepare for the fight before you absorb the word for whirlwind
sprint.
Vol using ice spikes. Because of this I really didn't need slow time or the
slow-mo from archery to avoid his spikes from range. And melee is of course
not his forte. Just be careful when he retreats to near the slope of the
mountain as he may be hard to loot, but you can loot either his ash pile or
outer armor.
If you want to run Volskygge as intended feel free, but start from the proper
entrance.
Hevnoraak and Evil in Waiting
-----------------------------
Mask: resist disease and poison
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: not sure
Valthume is way southeast of Markarth. You may be better off going pretty much
all of south from Markarth and then going east until you see the dungeon pop
up on your map. If you look on the map, it's almost on a direct line from
Markarth to Falkreath, but closer to Markarth.
Inside you will talk to a ghost who will ask you to help him. Then go through
the two doors to the next zone. Nothing in the big room, and in the hall do
step on the pressure pad to smack the draugr in the adjacent hall. The room
ahead has one undead, and then go left as the door is barred.
In the big room ahead you will see an image of the dragon priest go out of
view. There are two undead sitting in wait on the thrones on the sides. There
is also a trap door that will drop you to the sewer below. Avoid the trap and
take them out, and range can use the ledge on the left side, though one will
most likely retreat to the sewer if you do. The sewer doesn't have anything
but a few spiders I believe. Loot the room of a chest and move on.
In the next hall go into the door on the left and step on one of the pressure
pads, step back, and no more enemies there. But come back and visit the side
room for a skill-up book and a knapsack under one of the tables. Back to the
trap room, press the button on the left corner to open a path to the first
vessel and kill the sub-boss guarding it.
Go back and take the open path to a room with three draugr. The tables have
some potions, the locked room has more, and below will be a side room with a
bunch of urns. Press the button on the wall to reveal a path to the room you
may have seen before with some potions and a chest. Then go back to take the
door to the next zone.
A huge spider will drop from the ceiling when you loot the chest, and then two
lesser ones from the sides. Up ahead you can tag the sleeping draugr, and then
you can use the pressure pad to maybe kill the next one with the blade trap.
Down a long hall will be a sleeping draugr and there is another nearby. There
is also a stronger one by the gate. Pull the chain on the right side wall to
open the path to the next vessel. You can use the fire lights, or just kill the
sub-boss outright. Snatch the vessel and the three gems which are traps in the
next hall.
Go out and take that hall to the next catacombs where you have two draugr
around the corner, and there is one more sleeping in the wall. The next room
just had two on the top level, and one who was asleep on the lower level.
Through the doors ahead was a room of three spiders. Get on the other side of
the pedestal and grab the Iron Claw to avoid the fire trap and to get on with
your business. The solution is dragon, eagle, wolf from top to bottom.
The next room has four enemies, two sub-bosses, one weakling, and one strong
enemy. You may be able to sneak out of this, but they could drop some nice
weapons too. When clear, grab the vessel and then you can learn a new power
word and loot a fat chest. Take the path out through the unbarred door in the
previous zone.
Val will be waiting in the big room that was empty. Talk to him, put the stuff
in the stance, and sit on the throne. If you are a stealth person, quickly
rise when Hev appears and slither to the side. Save, and go in for your kill
of choice. Remember, melee is their weakness, but I didn't get a chance to
see his favorite spell. After the fight talk to Val to end the quest, but he
vanished mid-sentence - oh well, sleep tight.
Otar the Mad
------------
Mask: resist shock, frost, fire by 30
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: Frost maybe
Ragnvald is north of Markarth; hard to miss.
Make your way down and around to reach the main intersection room. There are
three undead in here, one below the start and two up ahead. Kill the one
below, grab the chest in the corner, and take the bladed hallway to fight one
more undead and loot a chest. Flip the lever and come back out to kill the
other two patrolling undead. There are a few things to loot, and you'll notice
two doors on either side. Let's take the left one to the crypts.
Ragnvald Crypts - The left hall is filled with pressure pads and the right one
just has a draugr in it. The catacombs has about three sleepers; I just snuck
past everyone. In the big room will be two draugr, one up above and one below.
The chest has a trap you can pick on the lower right side. Go up and enter the
big room on the left. When you snatch the skull a sub-boss and two strong
enemies will pop up. Kill Saerek first and then take out the minions, or you
could go the opposite way and use the oil to burn the minions first if that
sounds easier. Loot the chest, then go back and cross the bridge to reach the
big room in the temple. Cross over and drop down to enter the canals.
Ragnvald Canal - There are three enemies in here, two below and one above.
Kill them, go right for a chest, and then left to the corner. Flip the lever to
a nearby drawbridge, pick the trap on the door, and loot the fat chest. Take
the drawbridge to the room with the skull. When you grab it feel free to drop
back to stealth as there is Torsten and two minions. Take them out, loot the
chest, and take the path left of the pedestal. Watch the pressure pad and you
can loot some items in a small room before returning to the temple.
With both skull keys in hand, go to the sarcophagus. Save and place both skulls
in the slots, but if you are stealth you should immediately slither away.
Otar will emerge. If you didn't use the oil on the draugr, you can probably
use it on him if you lure him properly to investigate arrow sources. Looks like
he uses frost. Loot him and feel free to take the skulls. There is a fat chest
in here and a power word. You may also find an interesting dagger. Return the
way you came.
Rahgot and Siege on the Dragon Cult
-----------------------------------
Mask: +70 stamina
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: ???
Forelhost is SE of Riften, atop the mountain. A friendly Captain Valmir will
greet you near the entrance and ask you help in obtaining the mask.
Inside you will run into a ghost by a fire. Watch the pressure pad and there
are two more ahead. Past the bladed hall you will face two more ghosts. You
will find a journal and a chest. There are two ghosts in the sleeping quarters
and then one at the forge ahead. Go left to grab some items, feel free to loot
all the mining materials, and there is a ghost in the dining area. The final
room has two draugr, a ghost, and a sub-boss behind the door. There should be a
grand soul gem up the steps, and you can cross over the traps to loot a chest.
In the hall you need to watch for the pressure pads and feel free to flip the
lever to open a path to the start.
*NOTE: Sneaking past everything is an option if you can pull it off.*
Forelhost Crypt - There is a ghost at the fork in the road. The left path leads
to the well which is locked behind a master lock. If you can pick it you can
skip a lot of grief and head straight to the next area. Otherwise you have to
go right and chop through tons of undead. There's one in the first room, a
couple down the hall, and when you come down some steps you should go left to
find a chest in a tiny room. Down the hall there is a sub-boss waiting, so you
should clear the draugr on the wall. When you reach the lower catacombs you
should consider sneaking or using any tricks up your sleeves to get through it
without having to awaken the tons of undead down here. You will also need to
avoid the pressure pads; otherwise it will be a long fight to the end. When you
reach the room ahead there will be a sub-boss and two minions guarding the
chest with the key. Get it, watch out for the gem turret up the spiral path,
and return to the fork in the road.
Now you can take the well, or if you picked it, swim under and there are three
rats up above. Swim to the next room and save. Through the door you need to
avoid the circular pad on the floor as it will lift you to the spikes on the
ceiling. You can either sneak by or face the two draugr.
Forelhost Refectory - There are two draugr in the hall, and two more in the
dining room nearby. Stealth is best, but whatever works. There is another one
in the hall filled with oil, and watch out for the runes. In the garden there
are three, and then two more in the alchemy room ahead. In the garden there
is a note on the left side. The next room has two draugr and a powerful
shock gem. Best to use a useless arrow to knock it down, or run by it. The
master door leads to it and nothing else. There are numerous locked doors and
chests, but be sure to grab the glass claw which is adjacent the gem room.
There is a sub-boss in the room ahead before you reach the hallway with the
door. It goes wolf, owl, snake from top to bottom.
When you go up the steps four draugr will appear directly behind you as
Rahgot pops out of his sarcophagus. You want to take care of the minions first,
then take out Rahgot. After the fight, loot his staff, mask, key, the chest,
and anything on the altar. Leave to the outside. Go get the power word before
you jump down to meet Valmir. Learn the truth and then take them both out to
complete the quest. Look Valmir's note and his fancy helmet.
Vokun and A Scroll for Anska
----------------------------
Mask: +20 conjuration, illusion, alteration
Armor: heavy
Spell of Choice: Fire
*NOTE: I don't think she can die, but try to somewhat protect her.*
High Gate Ruins is about halfway between Solitude and Dawnstar. Inside you
will run into a friendly woman named Anska. Talk to her and agree to help.
The first room has three undead and two chests, and a big gem up the middle;
worry not about finding any other loot on the ledges. Move through the door to
find a couple of draugr waiting down the tunnel. There is loot in the room
ahead. In the next room you are presented with a puzzle. There is a clue above
the entrance, and it reads left to right eagle, whale, fox, snake, and two
of the levers are on the upper level. Pull them in that order and the hatch
will open to the next zone.
*NOTE: I may not mention all of them, but watch for pressure pads.*
High Gate Ruins Catacombs - There is a sleeper ahead, and down the path will
be three sleepers in the walls. Two more are in the narrow part, and in the
loot room there is a gem that will spawn two draugr when you pick it up. Pick
the door for a chest and continue. In the long hallway just move slowly to
avoid the pressure pads so that Anska doesn't trip one if you move too fast.
In the last room you will pull a lever, then kill a normal draugr through door
#1, and then quickly go flip the lever in that alcove so you can reveal the
prize behind door #2 being a sub-boss and the third lever. Quickly down him,
flip it, grab the potions, and enter the next area.
High Gate Ruins Throne Room - It's just you, Anska, and Vokun in here. He
uses a fire staff and will summon a flame atronach if you give him time. With
Anska you could try to let her act as a decoy, but you would want to work fast
so you don't risk her dying. And like all dragon priests he is not a fan of
melee combat. When he's dead you can loot his staff and mask, and then grab a
power word and a fat chest in the next room. Pick up the scroll on the slab and
give it to Anska for a reward. Take the side door back to the first zone and
you'll appear back at the start.
Konahrik
--------
Mask: may be saved near death and will damage enemies
Armor: heavy
Required: all eight other masks and the wooden mask
The final mask is not a boss drop but a reward. Once you have all eight dragon
masks, get the wooden mask from the hut at Labyrinthian and put it on to in
that same hut to be transported to a different time. Place all masks in their
respective slots and you will get this ninth and final mask. You can pick up
all the masks when done.
*****************************************************************************
* 13. The Aedra and Daedra ( DAE1313 ) *
*****************************************************************************
=====================
The Aedra & Blessings
=====================
The Nine Divine have shrines all over Skyrim. Their blessings last for only
8 hours. In addition to their blessings you will also be cured of all
diseases (except vampirism and lycanthropy). You can only have 1 blessing
active at a time, and the distance travelled to reach these shrines will most
likely be negated during fast travel. Basically, if you run into one you may
as well get the blessing.
I believe their amulets will have the exact same effects, though I don't know
if they will stack with each other.
The Temple of the Divines in Solitude will have shrines for all eight except
for Talos unless you side with the Stormcloaks and win the war. If you don't
realize, worship of Talos is a big factor in the civil war.
Divine: Mara
Blessing: +10% more effective healing
Her temple in Riften has a quest that awards a permanent blessing.
Divine: Dibella
Blessing: +10 speechcraft
Her temple in Markarth has a quest that awards a permanent blessing.
Divine: Talos
Blessing: -20% shout cooldown time
His shrines are the most numerous. He has a big shrine in Markarth.
Divine: Arkay
Blessing: +25 HP
His shrines are in the Halls of Dead in Markarth, Riften, and Whiterun.
Divine: Kynareth
Blessing: +25 stamina
She has a temple in Whiterun.
Divine: Akatosh
Blessing: +10% magicka regen
Divine: Julianos
Blessing: +25 magicka
Divine: Stendarr
Blessing: +10% more block damage
Divine: Zenithar
Blessing: 10% better prices
Other Blessings
---------------
Daedric Prince: Nocturnal
Blessing: +10 sneak
There will be a statue in the Ragged Flagon in Riften once you do the Thieves
Guild quest line. This is the only daedric prince with a blessing.
Dragonslayer: Esbern
Blessing: +10% crit against dragons for 5 days
This is a blessing you can get from Esbern from the main quest.
The Gift of Charity: Any Begger
Blessing: +10 speechcraft for 1 hour
Give some gold to a begger in a city.
Voice of the Sky: High Hrothgar
Blessing: animals are friendly to you for 24 hours
There are 10 tablets on the steps leading to High Hrothgar, but this is one
blessing that I would not expect anyone to ever use, or get it more than once.
==========
The Daedra
==========
The Daedric Princes all offer very powerful rewards. However you must reach
certain levels for most. But you should try to tackle these before you cross
the level 30 threshold as you'll want the rewards to be put to use for the
remainder of the game.
The Mind of Madness
-------------------
Prince: Sheogorath
Level: 1
Location: Solitude
NPC: Dervenin
Reward: Wabbajack - Random effect, but best saved for use against enemies
unless you want to get charged with crimes.
Head for the Blue Palace in Solitude and you should run into an old beggar
named Dervenin. Speak to him and agree to help him find his master. You are
told to gain access to an old wing of the Blue Palace, the Pelagius Wing.
Enter the palace and find one of the servants, like Una in the servant's
quarters. She will give you the key to enter, and the door is in the lobby.
Go upstairs and down a hall you will be transported to a new realm.
Let them finish and go talk to the fancy man. This is Sheogorath, star of the
Shivering Isles expansion from Oblivion. Listen to him and when you are done
you will be in clothes and have the Wabbajack.
Let us go NW first. You will approach a fort with a fight between two
atronachs in an arena. Use the Wabbajack until one is frost and one is flame;
the flame one being the enemy. Then look across the arena to see three dudes
on a balcony. Shoot either one beside the middle guy and you will have solved
the test.
Next we will return to the middle and go NE to Pelagius in a bed. For this
part just keep charging your Wabbajack and shoot Pelagius to summon the next
enemy and turn them. Do this quickly and you'll be gone in no time. You cannot
interact with anything.
Return to the middle and go SE to a tiny Pelagius. All you have to do is hit
Pelagius until he is a giant, and I think may hit the Anger until it goes away
as well.
Now return to Sheogorath and speak to him to let him finish his bit and you
are free to go. You get to keep the Wabbajack of course.
When back in reality, go down the steps and read the skill-up book in the
middle of the room.
The Black Star
--------------
Prince: Azura
Level: 1
Location: Shrine of Azura, south of Winterhold
NPC: Aranea Ienith
Reward: Azura's Star - Reusable grand soul gem
or The Black Star - Reusable grand soul gem for only humanoids
The trek up the mountain paths can be dangerous, especially with a dragon
glyph nearby, so good luck, lol. You can go out of Winterhold and west up a
path, then wait for the path going south and follow it.
When you reach the shrine, take the steps on the left to speak to Aranea. She
will send you to Winterhold. You can go to the college if you want and ask
around until you hear someone tell you about Nelacar, who is found at The
Frozen Hearth inn in town.
Try to persuade or intimidate, and then bribe if you must. Upon further chat
you will be sent to Ilnalta's Deep, which is west of Riverwood to the south. It
is also north of the Lady Stone.
Once inside you will find a knapsack in the first room. It is completely
optional to clear the dungeon on this level. If you want you can just run up
the ramp on the right and into the Deluge. I'll explain the rest of this level
for you completionists out there, and there is a lot of nice loot to be found.
* Ilnalta's Deep *
Down the left hall are two necromancers and a reanimated one. In the dining
hall there is a room on the left with a skeleton and potions. Down the right
hallway will be a watery room with a necromancer and a skeleton. After you
loot the chest on the right, dive in the water and go under the walling water
to find a sunken room with a chest. Come back and through the door is a
skeleton. Feel free to sleep to rest up.
Two rooms ahead will be a necromancer, a reanimated necromancer, and the boss
necromancer. Remember, kill the summoner and the puppet will die, so down the
little ones and burn the hell out of the boss. Their lair is full of items,
including a skill-up book, potions, disenchanting table, and a chest behind a
door.
Down the hall will be two skeletons and more potions all over. There is a fat
chest in here, a soul gem by the altar, and a locked door under the water that
leads to a closet of items. Down the hall will be another locked closet, and
then you'll unbar a door leading back to the start.
* Ilnalta's Deep End *
Ilnalta's Deluge - There are two weak necromancers in the first room, a skill-
up book, tons of soul gems, a chest, and a closet with potions to the right.
Down the left hall will be a patrolling necromancer who is quite powerful, and
I would advise you down a frost resist potion if you plan on being hit by her
spells.
The next room will have another strong necromancer, and he will reanimate some
skeletons that you will need to kill even after he dies. Loot him and go up the
steps to claim your prize, the Black Star. You can loot the skeletons, take the
big, and loot the fat chest. Take the ladder to return to the outside.
Now you have a choice of either returning it to Azura or Nelacar. Both will
send you on the same cleansing and both give you a grand soul gem that will
never break. The difference is that Nelacar gives you the Black Star which
will trap humanoid souls, who are all grand. It will help you in enchanting
and refilling magical items. Azura's Star will let you trap any souls you
can except for humanoid.
The cleansing they send you to a new realm. After the guy is done talking,
save and around the corner will be three powerful Daedra. I just use line of
sight and a bow to burn them down one at a time, using quick reflexes to dodge
their fireballs. Varen isn't very strong, follow the path and kill him
quickly, and before you are sent out go loot his body.
When back in Skyrim you will be rewarded with the star you chose.
Ill Met By Moonlight
--------------------
Prince: Hircine
Level: 1
Location: Falkreath
NPC: Sinding
Reward: Saviour's Hide or Ring of Hircine
Go to the barracks in town and enter the jail below. He will be to the left.
Listen to him and ask him his next move. Offer to take the ring. Stay there
and watch as he departs.
Just so you know, the ring allows you to turn into a werewolf twice in a day,
BUT only if you have taken the curse while doing the Companions quests.
You are hunting a White Stag of Hircine. Wherever it is, go there, sneak, and
shoot it dead. Soon a spectral stag will approach you. Agree to help hunt the
werewolf, who is now far to the north at Bloated Man's Grotto. I fought a
dragon above the entrance, so hopefully you won't.
Inside you will run into a slaughtered camp of hunters with one dying survivor
by the fire. Loot them and go right to meet Sinding. If you choose to kill him
you will get a weak piece of light armor. If you choose to spare him you will
team up with him and go kill the rest of the hunters and you get to keep the
ring. Sounds like an easy choice.
Agree to help and go up the steps. There is a chest atop the hill and two
hunters nearby. There are three more down the path, and then three more around
the next corner. After that, say goodbye and go outside. The stag ghost will
commune with you once more, and you are still given approval and allowed to
keep the ring, and now you can take it off.
Again, the ring allows you to change in a werewolf more than once so long as
you have the werewolf blood from the Companions quest line.
The Taste of Death
------------------
Prince: Namira
Level: 1
Location: Hall of the Dead, Understone Keep, Markarth
NPC: Brother Verulus
Reward: Ring of Namira - +50 stam and allows you to eat corpses to regen health
just like you can as a werewolf
*NOTE: Before you get to the later stages of this quest, consider meeting
with Lisbet, a Markarth merchant, and completing her minor quest. It is only
for leveled gold, but you may or may not get a chance to finish it if you have
not yet.*
You will find the Brother inside the keep, so just talk to him and try to
persuade him, try not to bribe. Use the key to enter the hall and move forward
until someone approaches you. Speak and it's okay to agree for now. After
that, move up to find the shrine to Arkay, read the skill-up book to the right,
and then return to Verulus to get a small reward.
Reachcliff Cave is a good distance to the SE of Markarth. Should be a bear up
the trail, and when you reach the cave Eola will offer to help you clear the
cave of undead, but if you are stealth you can tell her to sit tight.
Inside there is not much special. There are two undead at the corner, two down
the hall, a sleeping one in the catacombs, two more down the left path, a
chest to whirlwind sprint to (shout gained in main quest), and a draugr in
the next room - of course loot along the way. As you approach the final room,
save and get ready for three weaklings and the boss zombie. If you are an
archer there is a nice rock spot to the right as you enter that will be in-
accessible to melee attacks, and if he tries to run away to God-knows-where,
just jump to normal ground and he will stick around. But however you do it,
loot the chest and notice the secret door on the left as you try to leave. It
will take you to a secret door.
I'm not sure if you could have waited, but I went outside, ran to the original
cave entrance (passing an orc settlement), and when I came back into the cave,
Eola was already back at the boss room. Either way, Eola will send you to go
pick up Brother Verulus. Return to the Understone Keep and ask him to join you.
You will probably have to bribe him. Fast travel to the secret entrance to the
cave and enter.
Lead him to the table and take note of the room. There is a dog-seller, Lisbet
the merchant, and another merchant here. You have two options: kill Verulus and
eat him, or kill everyone else. Everyone else is fairly weak, so if you want
to champion the light you are more than welcome; kill Eola first and the rest
are cake. You'll get their loot, including keys, and loot from Verulus.
*NOTE: It seems killing Lisbet has less consequences than I thought. Her
husband takes over the store at Markarth and her minor quest was still in my
log. So by killing her legally I got a key to loot her shop and I suppose now
I can keep the loot if I ever dive into that dungeon for her shipment.*
By killing and eating Verulus you will be able to add Eola as a companion, and
you get a ring with +50 stam and allows you to eat corpses to regen health.
*NOTE: The Oblivion Walker achievement requires you to do all the quests, so
eating this guy is your only way to get it.*
Darkness Returns
----------------
Prince: Nocturnal
Level: 1
Location: Thieves Guild final quest
NPC: ???
Reward: Not completing quest = Skeleton Key - Unbreakable lockpick
Completing quest = Nighingale Blessings
This quest is only picked up during the Thieves Guild quest line. Without
going into detail about how you get to this point, I'll just copy and paste
the quest here. All you need to know is this is the last core quest with the
guild.
Given that you don't really get a proper reward, keeping the key may be an
enticing option for most. The only way to do that is to not start this quest
once you have the key.
*BUG: Do not exit the conversation with the ghost until you hear everything
he has to say, otherwise you will not be allowed to enter.*
The sepulcher is way west of Falkreath, so head there on foot. Inside you
talk to a spirit. To the left is the remains of Kystrom who will have a nice
weapon and a satchel near him. His notebook is worth a read.
There are two ghosts in the first room, one who is in the tiny room to the left
and the other is down the steps. Kill them and loot the shelves to the right.
Watch the pressure pad in the hall, and there is one more ghost in the next
room.
When you reach the dark cavern, stay in the shadows as the light will burn
you. Ignore the corpse in the light and there is a wire atop the first steps
and before you head down the other side, so hit them and wait for the darts to
pass. Go up and right to get up some steps, and hit the wire before you cross
the bridge and sit adjacent to the bridge so that the darts ahead will miss.
Go up the next steps and hit the wire at the top of the descending steps. Then
just follow the darkness to the door.
In the next path are two chains behind the torches on the sides. Up ahead you
will see swinging blades and a bunch of pressure pads, and the door ahead will
have a ram when you open it. However, before you go down the bladed path you
can use your skeleton key on the door to the left and eventually you will open
the door and your key will never break (very handy, but it's too late now to
reconsider keeping it).
There are two ghosts to take care of, then loot the elven arrows on the wall
with the skin and read the skill-up book. Pick up the loot and go back up,
follow the hall, and take the door to the inner sanctum. Follow the path and
drop down to loot the skeleton. Just wait and you should get to move on. Put
the key into the floor and then face the Daedra as she speaks. Then speak
with your friend.
The crescent is for an invisibility power, the half is for a power to cause
enemies to attack each other, and the full gives you a life-drain spell. I
say go with the crescent. You can always change after 24 game hours. A quick
chat will unfold and then you can leave.
Waking Nightmare
----------------
Prince: Vaermina
Level: 1
Location: Windpeak Inn, Dawnstar
NPC: Erandur
Reward: Skull of Corruption (staff with the ability to take dreams and use
them as power)
Enter the inn and speak with the priest inside. Agree to help and follow him
on the long walk up the hill. There should be three ice wraiths to clear,
talk to him at the door, and then enter Nightcaller Temple.
There is a chest and he will open the path. Follow him down the steps and
vanquish two orcs. Chat and follow him back up to the door. There will be a
few enemies to kill along the way to the lower level. Open the door on the
side to find a chest, then go back up and find the book on a stand against the
wall. Pick it up and take it to him.
*NOTE: Grab the troll fat and Daedra Hearts up ahead, for a Daedra quest soon
to follow.*
There are two enemies en route to the next room, and then about six in the lab.
Kill them quickly, loot the room of ingredients (remember you eat them to
learn their effects in alchemy), and grab the flask and talk to Erandur. The
potion is called Vaermina's Torpor in your potion tab, so find it and drink.
Just follow the path and when you reach a room, go left and slip by the fight
when you can (keep trying). Then just keep to the path and pull the chain when
you reach it.
When back, grab the soul gem from the electricity and talk to Erandur. Head
down and let him lead. There are two mages in the room below, as well as a
chest and stuff on a table to the right. Another mage down the way and in the
next room there should just be one orc and a chest behind him. Keep up with
Erandur and you can always come back for the loot. There are two more orcs
down the way, but only one may get up.
Approach the skull and you will meet the heroes of Vaermina. Kill them and
Erandur will begin his ritual.
You have moments to decide if you want the skull destroyed, or if you want to
listen to the voice telling you to kill Erandur and take the skull for your
own. Killing him rewards you with the skull, a staff. And letting him complete
his ritual allows you to take him as an ally. Seems like a simple decision
from a controller: kill him.
Then you must take the lonely walk out, but there is nice loot, including a big
chest just right of the altar. It's funny if you can talk to one of the orcs
only to have him turn on you as soon as you're done talking.
The House of Horrors
--------------------
Prince: Molag Bal
Level: 7
Location: Markarth
NPC: Tyranus
Reward: Mace of Molag Bal (1H) and the Abandoned House
*NOTE: To avoid a possible glitch, save before you enter.*
Go up the road from the front gate and a guy should be asking someone about a
house. He will question you and he will ask you to follow him inside. Go with
him as you really don't have a choice (though maybe you could leave and he
would still be there). Walk with him down, try the door, run back up, try the
door, and then engage in mortal combat. Kill the poor guy as you really have
no choice.
There are some treasures in the first room and some in the next, though you may
want to grab it on your way out. Head further down and you'll arrive at an
altar. When questioned, choose "altar" and "revenge" to be set free on a
quest for your new master. I believe you can find this priest at one of a few
destinations, so go to yours and enter.
*NOTE: If you want to spite the prince, kill the priest, otherwise you will
have no alternative other than to carry out Molag Bal's will. It is kind of
worth it though, easily.*
Any cave you find him in should be fairly small. Once you find him, try the
other two options before bribery (which seems odd to bribe someone in order to
free them), and then return to Markarth. Visit the haunted house and follow
the priest to the shrine below. Beat up the poor guy until he is dead for good.
You are rewarded with a fat mace and the house. It's not a real house, but
the chests can safely be used as storage. You cannot bring a spouse here.
The Cursed Tribe
----------------
Prince: Malacath
Level: 9
Location: Largashbur, SW of Riften
NPC: Atub
Reward: Volendrung - 2H warhammer
The trek to the orc camp is long, and when you arrive a giant should be on
the attack. Help the orcs defeat it and then approach the front gate and wait
for Atub to speak to you. Agree to help and she asks you get a troll fat and
Daedra Heart.
Both of these are found in the "Waking Nightware" Daedric quest above. So if
you got them, just tell her. If you don't go do Waking Nightmare or revisit
the tower over Dawnstar to get the items you may have missed. And I do
recommend doing the quest if you haven't so we can accomplish two things at
once.
Anyway, once you have the items Atub will let you in. Follow her as she gets
Yamarz for the ritual. Speak to Yamarz and agree to help him. He will run off,
so if you want to follow him you want, or just use the wait feature a few
hours and go to Riften, then NE to the cave.
Fallowstone Cave is a short walk, maybe hitting a giant or two and then a few
bears. The objective is in Giant's Grove. When near the target giant Yamarz
will ask you to kill the giant for him. You can or convince him to do it,
but either way leads you to the same end pretty much. If you don't want to
fight him and the giant, make him do it. Otherwise you will have to kill the
giant and then him; which is the "better" way of doing things.
The giant should be like a nuker enemy; powerful but not very durable (or else
I'm that way). Try to open with a few range attacks, use your force shout if
you have it, and just burn him quickly. His ground pound is strong, so don't
drag this fight on. Loot the giant, the chest, and the bodies before returning
to Yamarz, with weapons drawn. He will talk and then open fire on you. He
should prove tough to damage than the giant, but weaker, so overpower him. Loot
his armor as it should be valuable or an upgrade, and then return the way you
came. Go left when you enter the cave and there is a chest along the ledge.
Back at camp, talk to Atub, place the hammer on the shrine skull when told, and
then Volendrung is yours for the taking (take it). It's a powerful warhammer.
*NOTE: Talk to the new chief, Gularzob and he will mark other orc camps on your
map.*
The Only Cure
-------------
Prince: Peryite
Level: 10
Location: Shrine of Peryite, NE of Markarth
NPC: Kesh
Reward: Spellbreaker - a powerful shield that guards against spells as well
*NOTE: This is a very long quest, and if you don't have the four items below,
I would consider finishing the rest of the Daedric quests and do this one
later. I got all of this stuff in my questing, and if you add entering the
bastion to this quest it will take a long time for a shield - a good shield,
but it may be more trouble than it's worth at the moment for you.*
Before you go, know that you need four things: deathbell flower, silver ingot,
flawless ruby, and vampire dust.
Flawless Ruby: mostly a random drop. There is supposed to be one in
Shriekwind Bastion, a vampire dungeon north of Falkreath.
Vampire Dust: if you don't have one, Shriekwind Bastion is a good
place to kill two birds at once.
Silver Ingot: almost anywhere with a forge could have some of these
lying around. There are two in Jorrvaskr in Whiterun.
Deathbell: these are all over the place, but you can find them at most
alchemy lab rooms, like the one in the College of Winterhold.
This shrine is atop a hill NE of Markarth. Kesh will ask you to get these four
items for the incense, so hopefully you have them already. Don't forget to read
his skill-up book. Inhale the incense. The spirits should appear to your left.
The dwarven ruin is just west of here, so hoof it and there will be two guys
to kill. Head through and flip the lever by the entrance. There are two chests
before you enter the dungeon itself.
A chest in the first room. Sneak down the hall and go right to open the gate.
The left doors lead to a sleeping area, so feel free to avoid as there is not
much loot on the three afflicted. Further down the hall is a room on the
right with a chest behind a gate. Continue down the hall and there are three
followers who will say some stuff, but you are free to kill them. The next
big room has four roaming about, so kill as you wish. Up to the right is a
lever and chest. Pull the lever to open the path.
In the cave there is a chest below. In the next hall will be a blade trap you
can step on to kill the two enemies. In the room to the left will be two
sphere enemies guarding a chest in the wall. Head down the hall and there are
three archers guarding the entrance to the workshop.
Bthardamz Workshop - There are two enemies in the first area, which has no
loot in the side rooms. In the next area is a chest to the left, which will
be guarded by a spider, and when you move up the room three more will spawn in
the center. Take the lower room to face two mages, loot the chest, and feel
free to enter the next area through either door.
*NOTE: There is a lower door in the next part that leads to the dwelling. I
believe you need to go in there in order to clear the dungeon, but I didn't and
I'm sure it's not too important.*
You should go through the top door first to loot the chest and potion, but then
go back through the workshop and take the lower door so you quest marker isn't
stuck. There are four enemies to kill, a chest around the left wall before the
steps, and then go up to enter the Lower District, which makes no sense.
Bthardamz Lower District - There is a chest inside the gate. At the corner of
the hall are two spiders. There is a lever between the thrones to kill one of
the worshippers, then kill the other two sitting on the left. Loot the chest
and move to the wide open cavern.
There are three roaming enemies up ahead, so you can be patient or go at the
head first. Through the gate you will get ambushed by two spheres. Up to the
left will be three more worshippers, but don't flip the lever as the door
blades will swing; unless you can somehow use it to your advantage. There is a
chest to the right on the ground, and then you are free to move on. You make a
quick pass through the Bthardamz Study, which should only have two chests, but
I wouldn't be surprised if some automatons pop up.
Back in the Lower District, go right at the fork for a chest, and then down
the left path there are three enemies on the right who are guarding a small
chest on the wall, so it's not really worth the effort, but feel free.
Continue down the path and you'll finally reach the last area.
Bthardamz Arcanex - There are two patrolling spheres that have the entire
narrow path, so feel free to wait for them to be up the spiral before handling
the three spiders, or let the spheres get near the beginning and tackle them
first. Either way, go up the path and there is a chest. But there is also a
loud clanking sound up ahead. If you wait, a Centurion will head down the path,
so engage him on your terms and kill him quickly.
Up the hall will be two spiders at the first turn, and then three down the
long stretch at the top. Orchendor is a powerful mage with a teleport spell.
Spells are not recommended, but if you have physical damage you should be okay
so long as you keep yourself alive. Loot his book and key and use the key on
the lift to get out of here.
Return to the shrine and commune with Peryite once more to get a powerful
shield known as Spellbreaker.
The Break of Dawn
-----------------
Prince: Meridia
Level: 12
Location: Statue of Meridia, south of Wolfskull Cave, which is SW of Solitude
down the road
NPC: none
Reward: Dawnbreaker - a 1H sword that is powerful against undead
As you approach the statue the god will talk to you and give you the quest
directly. Travel to Morthal and go SW until you reach the bandit camp, but try
to go in quietly, from the west where you can thin down the weaker bandits.
There are about five in total, including the chief and a strong caster. There
is a rock formation just outside the chief's house that will allow you to
remain out of melee range, so be sure to handle the ranged enemies and you
can cheap kill the chief from there.
Loot his key, the key inside the cabin, and grab the beacon. Return to the
statue and Meridia will take you on a nice little ride before telling you to
enter her temple which is just below the statue.
Throughout there are lots of corpses which had a lot of gold for me. Up the
hall will be two doors. Pick on the on the left to reveal a lever which opens
the right gate for a chest. In the next room will be a pedestal that you need
to turn on to light the path. Further up the hall you will see some ghosts.
Feel free to try and stealth kill them, and I'm not sure if they attack as
they didn't attack me, but oh well. Use the pedestal to light a beacon.
This opens a doors on the right which has two more ghosts waiting. Follow the
path and there will be a chest before you reach a room with one ghost on the
floor and one above. Take out both and there is a door to pick up top that
reveals a lever to access the chest right next to it. Use the pedestal atop the
pillar and go outside. There is a chest on your way to the door above.
There are a few ghosts on the floot, and a few on the levels above, so I would
recommend stealth to snipe the top ones so you can have it clear. Loot the
corner which has coins and a ring on the table. Go up the ramp near the front
to use the pedestal, which opens the door behind you. There is a ghost and
past him there is a chest on the left, and on the right you need to open the
door from the side to avoid the spikes.
If the top was clear, there are no enemies as you make your way to the second
pedestal, which you need to hop to and activate. Lots of items in the narrow
space as you move forward. The next room has two ghosts and a bunch of bodies
to loot. Nothing else, so move down the hall and turn on the pedestal to open
the door to the catacombs.
Kilkreath Catacombs - The first room has some loot and when you use the light
you will open the final room. There are four weak ghosts and the boss mage.
If you are an archer you can hide on the rock formation to the right of the
entrance. I say equip your strongest arrows, drink a true shot potion, and
start sniping the ghosts. However you engage in combat, you will have to kill
Malkoran and then his shade.
There are TONS of bodies to loot, and at level 31 they dropped on average 100
gold for me, and loot Malkoran too. Grab the sword and you will get ported
back to the statue. You get to keep the sword.
A Daedra's Best Friend
----------------------
Prince: Clavicus Vile
Level: 13
Location: Falkreath
NPC: Lod
Reward: Masque - +10 speachcraft, 20% better prices, +5% mana regen
Reful Axe - 2H axe, 20 stamina damage
or Barbas - immortal dog companion
*NOTE: It's best to visit Haemer's Shame before you start this quest. It is
in the mountain pass east of Helgen.*
Find Lod, his house is in the middle of town and he's usually outside at his
forge. He will ask you to find his dog. Go west out of town and the dog will
find you. You can follow the dog if you want, but it is a long, long trek
to Haemer's Shame, which is way east of Helgen. I believe you can port to the
cave and Barbas will be there waiting.
All you really have to do once inside is follow Barbas. He is immortal and can
take quite a beating, though he is not very powerful. Just assist him and
follow. You can and probably should loot places before you leave as he will
be fine, but you wouldn't want to back-track the whole dungeon; there are a few
side rooms with loot, and don't miss the skill-up book before the exit to the
second half. When you enter the second half, there will be a bunch of vampires
at the shrine room. Kill the smaller ones and double-team the boss vampire.
Loot the place up and visit the shrine.
Clavicus asks you retrieve an axe. The location is far west of Solitude. You
will follow the road going west out of Solitude until you reach Echo Cove and
then go north up a trail. Then there is a path going down the side of the
cliff, and halfway down is the entrance to the cave.
All that is in the cave is a flame atronach, the boss mage, a chest, and the
axe. There are also a few things in the back room, including a skill-up book,
and then you are free to leave. Speak with Barbas if you want.
*NOTE: The secret path directly to the shrine is NW of the cave entrance, at
the bend in the road and just jump the rocks to squeeze in. Or you could go
back through the original path if you missed some items the first time through
as you fought.*
You have three options:
Leave quest unfinished and keep Barbas as an immortal companion
Return the axe and get a mask
Kill Barbas and keep the axe
*NOTE: I believe Barbas will stay wherever you leave him, or he may return to
the shrine. He is a very annoying companion, barking, bumping into you, and
making it hard to sneak.*
The mask (or masque) is not really a great item, but the axe is not great
either. The dog is almost a game-breaker if not for hit barking a lot and not
being very powerful. I say just give the axe back and take the masque and be
done with it.
A Night to Remember
-------------------
Prince: Sanguine
Level: 14
Location: a tavern in Whiterun or Riften
NPC: Sam Guevenne
Reward: Sanguine Rose - Staff that summons a daedra
*NOTE: If you have any speechcraft items, put them on now.*
I found him at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. Simply drink three times and you
will awaken at the Temple of Dibella in Markarth. You should try to persuade
Senna to help you out, but if that fails you will need to either bribe her or
find the items yourself. There is supposed to be a note, hagraven feather,
giant's toe, and two bottles of wine, but I could not find the feather. I had
to exit the temple and come back for the note to appear and I guess because I
had a feather I was allowed to apologize. Again, you can always bribe to move
on.
Senna will send you to Rorikstead, which is way east of Markarth. You will need
to talk to Ennis who will be upset with you taking his goat. You can try to
talk your way out of it, pay, or go get the goat south of town. If you get the
goat you will have to fend off a giant. Once Ennis is satisfied or scared, he
will send you to Ysolda in Whiterun.
Ysolda is usually found walking from the market to Dragonsreach. She can only
be talked to or repaid. If you want to get the ring back you will have to go
south of Windhelm until you run into Witchmist Grove and get it from the
charming lady inside. Once Ysolda is repaid or scared, she will send you go a
tower that is just SW of Windhelm.
Morvunskar is SW of the Windhelm stables, atop a cliff. There are five mages
guarding the entrance, so take them out, loot the chest, take a power nap if
you want, and go inside.
There are two mages in the room in the corner, a skill-up book in there, and
some loot. Further down the path is a large room with some weak mages on the
left and the boss and a pal up the steps to the right. A sniper can take out
the two on the left and move on to the areas beyond. There is a chest under
the steps, enemies in the hallways, loot, a locked door leading to another
skill-up next to a named enemy, and a potion next to a shrine of Dibella. You
can follow the hall up some stairs to unbar the door leading back to the start.
When ready, or maybe you didn't do any of that, go engage the boss caster
and you should throw on a frost resist potion and go in for quick melee kills.
You may need to down a few stamina potions. Loot her, her chest, and enter the
portal near her throne. Just follow the path to visit your old friend who will
explain everything in a very "he was on the roof the whole time" kind of way.
You are ported back to wherever you found Sam to start, and with the Sanguine
Rose.
Discerning the Transmundane
---------------------------
Prince: Hermaeus Mora
Level: 15
Location: Septimus Signus' Outpost, north of Winterhold
NPC: Septimus Signus
Reward: Oghma Infinium - +5 to all skills in one of the three major play
styles: magic, combat, thief.
If you play the Dragonborn quest out, you will run into this one. The key is
that there are two parts: getting the Elder Scroll for the Dragonborn quest,
and then using the Lexicon to open the chamber at Signus' Outpost. You can
get the Elder Scroll at any level, but you won't be able to finish out the
Daedric Princes' portion until level 15.
* Alftand & Blackreach *
I will copy and paste the events that lead to the Elder Scroll. This covers
diving into the Alftand dungeon, a large dive into a Dwarven hold.
Alftand is SW of Winterhold. There are several paths leading to the outer
campsite, both from the north and east. From the east you'll be over the
Glacial Ruins entrance, and from the north you'll have to climb up some
walkways.
Glacial Ruins - A chest at the start, and as the snow turns to stone you will
be in for quite a surprise around the corner. Be on the lookout for pots that
are the dwarven chests. On the table will be two books, some gems, and two
dwarven spiders to examine. When you move to the left a spide should be nearby
or emerge, so be ready. Up the ramp will be another spider waiting. Look for
an alcove with a chest, satchel, purse, potions, and loose coins.
*NOTE: Seems like sneaking doesn't work well on these machines.*
Down the hall a spider will drop on you. J'darr is hostile, so feel free to get
the jump on him. Loot him and the other cat corpse, read the journal, look in
the pack, don't miss the potions, and loot the top of the barrel nearby. Up
ahead you will be entering the thick of the dwarven structure. Around the bend
will be what looks like an open crossing, but when you get close the two
spheres on either side on the floor will rise up as enemies. There is some
oil on the ground, but just be sure to fight one at a time. Around the corner
will be some loot on a table, and then ride the pistons up to reach a ledge
with a chest and other loot.
In the next room, be careful as two spiders will eventually drop in both
corners. Kill them, feel free to use the forge, and open the locked door to
open up two chests. Through the other door will be a spider on either side, so
go right first to get a chest, get the chest in the fork, and go left. There
is a room on the left with some potions and beds. Further up will be locked
door on the right, so open it and get the jump on the sphere; the chest should
have an interesting item inside. There is a spider to the right at the next
fork up the steps, and a potion on the table. Further up the hall will be the
top of the area you cleared earlier. Just hop over the pistons and where the
light shines just hop on a piston as two spiders appear. They can't reach you
from atop a piston, so range them to death and head into the next area.
Alftand Animonculory - The room on the left has some items. In the big room
will be a spider to the right. Sneak into a crawlspace on the floor to find a
dead guy and his journal near a chest. Up the steps will be a sphere with some
oil to catch fire, and your fire breath seems to work nicely, and another bug
will appear too. Some loose junk around, and when you go up the steps you must
avoid the pressure pads or a blade will come at you. Also, feel free to loot
the egg sacs.
In the spiral path ahead, there is a spider in an alcove who guards a chest.
Go down and unlock the door on the right, kill the spider, loot the side, and
if you can open the locked door you will have access to a chest, a book, and
a master chest you surely can't open unless fully LP specced. Drop down the
spiral path and grab the potion by the dead person. There are Falmer below, so
feel free to sneak. There is also a chest at the end of the dead end path, just
watch for the piston. There are more Falmer guarding the next door, so snipe
them and watch out for the rat and spider when you move down. Go around the
fire of course.
In the next room there are two Falmer, so get a good sneak attack. Mostly
junk in this room, and an alchemy table. The next room has three Falmer among
the fire and oil, but I just sniped them all. Not much else but a difficult
chest in one of the huts. In the next room will be a small alcove to the left
which should have a dagger on a table. In the torture floor you will have
three enemies and a bunch of loot. Don't miss the satchel by the lift and there
are a few items on the table like a lockpick, but may be worth more trouble
than you want. Don't worry about the lift, it only takes you up.
Move through and open the door. Below are three Falmer and one normal spider.
Try to snipe them all. No loot, so move through the door below, avoid the trap
on the floor, and take the next door to the cathedral.
Alftand Cathedral - A potion on the table in front, and a Falmer by the next
door. Go through and there are two Falmer and one spider to the right. There
are chests down both sides, and then turn and take the steps above the entry
door to find two chests. Pull the lever up here and you can go to the
cathedral. Sneak if you can as you go up the steps as a Dwarven Centurion will
animate on the left. If you can sneak and use bows, back up and just pop him
as you back up and he shouldn't be any trouble. Loot the lift key and all his
treasure, and from his dead ally. There are two chests, both on the right at
the start and back of the area before opening the gate.
When you open the gate, two dungeon divers will do battle. They are both
hostile toward you, so you can activate the button and run to the next area, or
you can let one of them win and finish him/her off. When ready, use the key
and enter Blackreach.
Blackreach - There is a dwarven sphere ahead, so sneak up and use the lever to
send a bolt directly at it. There is a Falmer on either side if you go left
or right from here. After that, this is just a massive area where you can go to
any number of other areas through one of the many doors. You may want to find
a Crimson Nirnroot to get a quest to keep in the back of your mind; fyi, there
are tons of these red plants here. Also, if your bags are full like mine were,
feel free to go to the left corner, push the button to open the gate, take the
lift up, and with the Great Lift of Alftand on your map you can fast travel
to a place to clear bag space. You don't really need much space unless you
plan to pick up all the nirnroot you can. If you are stealth you can finish
this quest up without fighting anything. Clearing space now is not a bad idea
if you want to just continue the story after. Either way, I require you to at
least use the lift to get it marked on you map (which should help in the
part soon to come).
Traversing Blackreach is fairly dangerous. I know you want to avoid the
center area as there is a wispmother among what seem like harmless fireflies,
but they are all enemies. There are Falmer scattered about, and along the
roads will be a few Centurions patiently waiting. The road going SE seems the
best to reach the river that will lead you to the door you need to open. I
snuck the whole way, so if you aren't a ninja you better be careful. Enter the
Tower of Mzark.
Tower of Mzark - No enemies. Lot of items in this room, including a book and
potion. In the next room go left and up the ramp. There is just a journal by
a dead guy on the floor. Go to the console up top and insert the cube into the
marked part. Then you should be able to go from right to left and push the
buttons until the next one turns blue, then push that button and so on; it
should work that way without having to return to a button. After the fourth is
pushed they will all turn grey. Grab the cube and then go grab the elder scroll
from the machine. Use the lift.
* Alftand & Blackreach end *
*NOTE: I believe without being level 15 you have no reason to return to Signus
as he will not advance the quest.*
When level 15, head back to Signus to the north. Give him the lexicon and
then ask him about his fascination. When you come up you can talk to a strange
abyss. There is no sense in at least saying you'll help it later.
The Price of Five - You must now kill an orc, a Falmer, and each of the elf
races to advance.
Falmer - Return to Blackreach and visit any of the Falmer you may
have killed. You should be able to return using the great lift, but
either lift works.
Orc - I know there were two at Dustman Cairn, which was the second
quest of the Companions, who are the fighter's guild of this game and
based in Whiterun.
Wood Elf - Swindler's Den is a respawning dungeon. I cleared it after
the In My Time of Need side quest, and when I returned it was refilled
with more bandits. It's SW of Dustman's Cairn, or just go pick up the
side quest and resume it since you should have it by default in doing
the main quest. There was also an orc in here, but I assume the races
of the bandits are random.
High Elf - Return to Ustengrav and the first necromancer, the stronger
one, should have been a high elf.
Dark Elf - Return to Ustengrav and I believe the necromancer before
you enter is a dark elf. There should be a corpse not far inside too.
*NOTE: I realize all the races above could be random.*
Beyond that I'm not sure what to tell you. If you are really impatient and are
prepared to eat the consequences, I suppose you could go around towns hunting
people down, but no telling if you'll kill someone involved in a quest. I say
just comb the land looking for dungeons if you must. You may want to start
with some quests, new factions, or just explore with fingers crossed.
When you have the blood, return to Signus. Give the blood to the guy and
follow him. Loot the body and then pick up the book. Turn to leave and speak
to the abyss again, and no harm in being agreeable. After you are free, open
the book again and you can choose to upgrade either your combat skills, your
thief skills, or your magic skills. I say go combat or magic, regardless if you
are a thief. You may level up a few times.
Pieces of the Past
------------------
Prince: Mehrunes Dagon
Level: 20
Location: Dawnstar
NPC: Silus Vesius
Reward: Mehrune's Razor
Go to the north end of town and you should hear him and his wife speaking, or
you can get this quest from a courier. Either way, head to his house and take
the museum tour. Look at each of his displays and then talk to him. He will
ask you to retrieve the three pieces of the Razor.
Hilt - Head to Morthal and find Jorgen, usually outside his mill at the north
end of town. Either scare, persuade, or buy the hilt; or even better, sneak
into his house and steal it for free (if you can).
Blade - Head to Falkreath and go west. The camp is locked if you sneak to
it, so enter through the ruined tower on the right. There are four enemies to
pick off: guard at the front gate, guy at the forge, and two hunters in the
opposite corner. Clear them out, there is a skill-up book, and enter through
the lower door to the right of the front entrance.
Inside will be some loot, and then try to pick the expert lock on the wall
to open the gate. If you can't unlock it then you'll have to kill the two
enemies above and the boss bandit. I would recommend killing them anyway
because the boss has a fat chest in his room.
The vault itself is harmless except for the dozen traps in your way. The cells
can be opened with buttons on the wall, and levers open the last cell. Just
watch the wires and when you grab the shards you should be standing at the side
to avoid the ceiling darts.
Pommel - It is located at Dead Crone Rock, SW of Markarth. But you need to go
east from Markarth and then south and then west in order to approach from the
right direction. You'll enter an area known as Hag's Rock, but you can stay
outside and fight your way up the outer levels. There are five enemies at the
start, and loot scattered about. On the next level should be just one enemy,
but then a little bit up should be the boss enemy. I think it's a glitch, but
there should also be a boss level animal; once I got a troll and again I got
a spider. I just shouted the boss Forsworn off the edge and he died, and that
left the other beast. Enter Dead Crone Rock at the top.
There is one enemy down the hall. Go up the ramp and there are two more. Open
the side door to find a door leading back outside to a balcony with some loot.
Come back and go through the dining area, careful of the flame traps, and pull
the lever. Read the book and take the open path back outside.
*NOTE: You can remove those gems from their stands to stop the fire.*
There is a chest in the tower. The hagraven is behind some spikes, so arrows
from the steps won't work. However, you could send a cheap arrow to the side,
she will go investigate, and then you can pick her off in the open. If you
engage her head-on, avoid the middle where the gems will burn you, and watch
your footing so you don't fall off (if you do, reload the autosave). Kill
her, loot her chest, loot her alter, grab the unusual gem, and pick up the
power word on the wall.
*NOTE: If you are really desperate for the kill, I suppose you could shout her
off, but you'll have to track the corpse down. Very risky, only use as a last
resort.*
With all three items return to Silus and give him all three at once for a
bigger reward. Then you need to climb the mountain to the SW of town. There
is a dragon wall, the Lover Stone, and a small treasure cash above the shrine;
these are all things to consider tagging as you go up there.
At the shrine, talk to Dagon when you can and he will ask you to kill Silus. I
say go for it because come on, this guy glorifies the enemies in the Oblivion
game! Kill him and loot his gear because you won't find any Mythic Dawn stuff
anywhere else. Use the altar and you will receive a dagger that has a small
chance of killing the enemy instantly. Put it to the test if you wish on the
two dremora who will attack you. Loot their hearts and a key.
*NOTE: If you let him live you will not get the blade and the dremora may kill
Silus anyway. He will give you some gold, but it's not really worth it.*
Go inside the shrine and kill two more. There is tons of loot in here. I found
a light and heavy helm that boosted my highest stat, a bunch of ingots, a few
chests, urns, a book, and some more free-floating loot.
The Whispering Door
-------------------
Prince: Mephala
Level: 20
Location: Bannered Mare, Whiterun
NPC: Hulda
Reward: Ebony Blade - 2H sword that requires hitting an ally to be at full
strength
Go to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun and ask Hulda about some rumors. She will
bring up the stuff about the Balgruuf's children. Go speak to Balgruuf and
ask him to begin the quest.
*NOTE: If you did the Battle for Whiterun quest you will find Balgruuf at the
Blue Palace in Solitude. You will have to go speak with him in the basement,
and then you will find Nelkir in the basement, very near to the door.*
Find Nelkir and talk to him and he will send you to the locked door in the
basement. Speak to it, agree to help, and you will be sent back to the boy.
He will reveal Farengar has a key. Simply pickpocket him after 10 at night and
you can open the door. I suggest putting on any pickpocket items and potions
you may have. You can also kill him, and I suppose no one would come to his
assistance, but I would not suggest it.
*NOTE: Perhaps you can just steal the key and take the blade without talking
to anyone beforehand, but no fun in that.*
With the key, go open the door, read the book, and take the 2H blade. It relies
on blood from your allies to be at full strength. This means that if you have
an ally, slash at them every now and then during a fight, but don't kill them.
Boethiah's Calling
------------------
Prince: Boethiah
Level: 30
Location: Sacellum of Boethiah
NPC: Priestess of Boethiah
Reward: Ebony Mail - Stealth bonus and a poison aura
Go to the Windhelm stables and go east. You'll pass by some farms and will come
across a place called Traitor's Post. Either kill or sneak by the bandits
inside (a nearby tower has a chest at the top), and go up the path leading up
the mountain on the southwest. Speak to the priestess there and you will be
told to bring an ally up here to kill for Boethiah.
Stenvar is a merchant in Windhelm who will do. Simply go to the Candlehearth
Hall, hire him, and fast travel back to the shrine. Bring him up to the top,
use the chat option "I need you to do something", and point the cursor to the
pillar for him to be ensnared. Pull out your Blade of Sacrifice and kill him.
Walk with Boethiah to the pit and she will tell everyone it's a free-for-all;
last man standing wins. You should try to sit back and let them go after each
other, using a good force shout if they are all clumped up or coming after you.
Just survive, kill the last one, and you will be given a final task.
Knifepoint Ridge is northwest of Falkreath, so make the trek. There are about
eight bandits guarding the entrance, along with some loot and a skill-up book
on a table near the front. Inside the mine there are six bandits to slay. You
don't have to kill them in stealth. There are a few chests and ores you can
mine if you grab a pickaxe. The champion sits inside the house, and if you
are an archer you can shoot him through the openings in the walls. Take his
armor, loot his chest, and then equip all of the ebony mail to speak to
Boethiah again (you can't equip it directly from looting, you have to equip it
from the item menu after you've picked it up). And that is it, Boethiah will
tell you to keep the mail and you have finished the Daedric Princes' quests.
Quick note, the mail will only harm enemies, but it is risky if you were to
engage someone in a town, like in a fist fight.
*****************************************************************************
* 14. Wild Quests / Dungeons ( WQD1414 ) *
*****************************************************************************
Bronze Water Cave
-----------------
Location: South of the Great Lift of Alftand, north side of the lake
A troll will be fighting a bear, so let them finish and kill the troll to
claim the chest inside.
This is the final stop in a quest during the Thieves Guild, and at that time
it will be empty.
Irkngthand
----------
Location: South of the lake that is south of Alftand
This is a bandit hideout. There are traps and plenty of humans in your way.
Reach the lever to open the gate, and up the wooden steps is a boss enemy.
*****************************************************************************
* 15. Vampirism / Lycanthropy *
*****************************************************************************
=========
Vampirism
=========
Sanguinare Vampiris
-------------------
Becoming a vampire requires finding a vampire and letting them cast a drain
spell on you until you contract Sanguinare Vampiris.
Once you have it you need to let three game days pass without curing it.
As a Vampire
------------
There are four stages to being a vampire, each happening after 24 hours without
feeding on a sleeping victim. By doing so you will revert back to stage 1.
Constants:
Complete resistance to poisons and diseases
Illusion magic 25% stronger
Sneaking 25% more effective
You cannot use a shield
Cannot regen health, stamina, or magicka while in daylight
Stage 1:
25% weak to fire
25% resist to frost
-15 to health, stamina, and magicka in daylight
Stage 2:
50% weak to fire
50% resist to frost
-30 to health, stamina, and magicka in daylight
Stage 3:
75% weak to fire
75% resist to frost
-45 to health, stamina, and magicka in daylight
Hated by most people
Stage 4:
100% weak to fire
100% resist to frost
-60 to health, stamina, and magicka in daylight
Everyone will try to kill you
Extra Abilities:
Drain spell
Reanimate corpses (stronger corpses with each stage)
Improved night vision
"Calm" spell (stage 2 and up)
"Invisibility" spell (stage 4)
So if you can keep feeding, vampirism can be effective for stealth players,
though beyond a point stealth players won't need any further help to remain
undetected.
Ring of Namira
--------------
This quest begins with Brother Verulus at the Understone Keep in Markarth. He
will ask you to go to the keep, then someone inside will send you to a cave,
and then you can lead Verulus to the cave once clear and complete a gruesome
task to gain this ring from a Daedric Prince. It lets you eat corpses to
regen health.
It's not required by any means, but it helps in daylight and it is fitting
seeing as you are a vampire and all.
The Cure
--------
There is a mage named Falion at a house in Morthal. All you need is a black
soul gem, which he can sell to you, you can find or could have in your battles
with necromancers, or you could go buy one from Enthir at the College of
Winterhold. Then you just meet Falion at dawn and that will be it; back to
normal.
===========
Lycanthropy
===========
If you don't know, this isn't the first time in the Elder Scrolls that players
can turn into werewolves. It was also a big part of the Bloodmoon expansion
in Morrowind.
The Companions
--------------
There is only one way to turn into a werewolf in Skyrim, and that is to follow
the Companions quest line. About midway through you will be given the chance
to turn into a werewolf, and you will have to if you want to continue with the
quest line. You should also finish the quest line so that you can have the
ability to cure yourself.
The Cure
--------
The cure is only unlocked through the quest line, in the tomb of Ysgramor,
which is along the north edge of Skyrim. It's only accessible through the
axe you get from the Companions, so trust me when I say you should just play
the quest line through.
Upon completing Glory of the Dead, you don't have to erase your wolf blood if
you don't want to. The option is always there.
Ring of Hircine
---------------
If you go to the barracks at Falkreath you can find a werewolf prisoner. You
will begin a Daedric quest. At the end you can choose not to listen to the
Daedric Prince and help the werewolf escape from some hunters. If you do the
prince will still reward you with a cleansed version of the ring which will
let you turn into a werewolf more than once.
As a Werewolf
-------------
You can turn whenever you wish, once a day for three minutes. You can add half
a minute with each corpse you feed on.
Pros
Strong melee attacks, including a power attack
More health
Sprint faster
Can't commit crimes
Four unique shouts
Can't be weighed down (somewhat handy if you grab too much in a dungeon
and want to move a little further)
Cons
Cannot pick up anything
Cannot use anything but your werewolf specific shouts
Cannot speak to anyone
All gear is unequipped (you have to equip it yourself)
Slower health regen, though you can eat corpses
All NPCs will attack you
1000 bounty if you are seen transforming
Cannot go into first person view
*****************************************************************************
* 16. FAQs / Author Info / Copyright *
*****************************************************************************
--------
Frequenlty Asked Questions
Q: How do I become a werewolf?
A: Join the Companions at Jorrvaskr in Whiterun and you'll get the chance. At
the end of the quest line you will arrive at an altar where you can permanently
reverse the curse; permanently means forever.
Q: How do I become a vampire?
A: There are roaming vampires at night who you may run into on lonely roads.
Sometimes they travel with a pal. You only gain the mild form of the disease
when they cast a drain spell.
If you want a more direct approach, go to the court wizard of the Blue Palace
in Solitude to get the marker for the Pinemoon Cave, to the NW. Go in with
protection and just line of sight the vampires until their casts give you the
disease.
Wait three days and you'll be a vampire. From then you'll need blood to avoid
being a full-blown vampire, which is an enemy of everyone, even your spouse
and followers.
Q: How do I cure vampirism?
A: Go to Falion at Morthal and he will tell you what you need to do.
You could also become a werewolf through the Companions.
Q: Can I get married?
A: Yes, simply find Maramal at the Bee and the Barb tavern in Riften and he
will tell you what you need to do.
You can essentially marry anyone who expresses they are looking for a spouse
and almost anyone who can be a follower. You just need to talk to Maramal, be
wearing an Amulet of Mara when speaking to them, and if you have either done
their quest or hired them for work before you can marry them. There is a
section in this guide that lists all possible NPCs.
The best reason to get married is the business your spouse opens which will
earn gold over time.
Q: How do I use these shouts I've found?
A: Kill dragons, absorb their souls, open your shouts in the magic tab, and
unlock each shout's stages.
Q: How do I buy houses?
A: Please the jarl's of the cities and they will give you the option. You will
also earn living spaces in all guild quests, and upon completion you will get
your own room in all but the Thieves Guild.
Q: How can I stay alive longer?
A: Use your shouts, racial powers, potions, and spells to give you some buffs.
You also have shields and can increase your armor type if you are in light.
Don't underestimate any small advantages you can get.
The other part may be that you are not aggressive enough. There is always a
trade-off in action RPGs between time spent attacking and time spent saving
yourself. If you are spending most of your time running away, drinking potions,
and casting life-saving spells, then you are most likely not specced properly
for combat. Fear not, just keep plugging away and focus your perks into a good
combat tree and make your protection stuff secondary.
Q: How do I sell my stuff?
A: Only certain merchants will buy certain goods. You really need to find the
few who will accept what you want to sell and come back to them after about a
week or so of game time. They only have so much gold which they will eventually
earn back, so keep eye on their gold amount when dealing with them.
One of the tricks is to buy crap from them so you can unload your dead weight
items. It's better to just hop around Skyrim selling your goods, but buying
lockpicks and arrows will be an easy way to give them just a little more gold
to sell them what you want to get rid of badly.
Q: Why can't I carry all these dragon bones and scales?
A: Consider getting the Steed stone, which is NW of Solitude. For all extra
items you really need a house so you can permanently and safely store your
items. Chests in the wild will offer temporary solutions, but they will reset
after a certain length of time.
Q: What am I missing by not killing Paarthurnax?
A: Esbern and Delphine will not be your allies, and you cannot sell your
dragon pieces to Esbern. You also cannot recruit three allies to join the
Blades and go out with you to hunt dragons.
Q: Any advice for the Master Criminal achievement?
A: Make a save, run around turning into a werewolf in front of guards outside
of gates, run away, fast travel to the next city, get the achievement, and
reload the save to erase the bounties without payment. If you don't have the
ability anymore, feel free to just run around killing anyone as you will reload
the save anyway.
-----
-------
Twitter
Follow me on twitter @ TheGum25
Website (blog of randomness)
www.herostrike.com
-----
-----------
Please contact me if you need any help, if you want to thank me, if you want
to talk, or if you want to ask a question. Efforts to get in a guide need to
be exceptional.
The golden rule: keep it short. If I see a wall of text I'm probably moving
on. I've gotten real bad with emails lately. And flamers don't even bother, it
won't work.
My email: lunatic_252000@yahoo.com
Title of your email should be: Skyrim
PS - To GameFAQ's users, if you like the guide, click "recommend" at the top
of the guide, but only if you like it.
PPS - I cannot fix bugs, glitches, or achievements/trophies not hitting. I
have continued to get these types of questions after 5 or so years of this.
-----
-----------
I have other guides floating around too. They are:
Resident Evil 4
Dead Rising
Gears of War
Lost Planet
Crackdown
GRAW 2
Rainbow Six Vegas
TES IV: Oblivion
Shivering Isles
Knights of the Nine
The Darkness
BioShock
Halo 3
Half-Life 2
HL2: Episode One
HL2: Episode Two
Call of Duty 4
Assassin's Creed
Mass Effect
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Perseus Mandate
Sam & Max Episode 203
Devil May Cry 4
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Okami
Grand Theft Auto 4
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Metal Gear Solid 4
Alone in the Dark (360)
NCAA Football 09
Madden 09
Dead Space
Gears of War 2
Prince of Persia (2008)
Call of Duty: World at War
FEAR 2
Resident Evil 5
GTA IV: TBOGT
Modern Warfare 2
Assassin's Creed 2
World of Warcraft
Mass Effect 2
Heavy Rain
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Crackdown 2
Halo: Reach
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Dead Space 2
LA Noire
FEAR 3
Gears of War 3
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I've also been published in GamePro magazine: June 2007, October 2007, and
March 2008 issue of GamePro. I was replaced by advertisements for official
guides - the Man keeping me down!
I wrote some articles for Gamershelp.com and OCModShop.com. I currently
write reviews for GamersTemple.com; a lot of iOS games but occassionaly some
console titles.
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Here is my list of sites:
GameFAQs (main host site)
GameSpot
GamersTemple (http://www.gamerstemple.com/)
IGN
OCModShop.com
chaptercheats.com
TheGameReviews
wiredgamingcommunity.com
neoseeker
gametower.org
SuperCheats
GamesRadar
CheatPlanet
CheatCodeCentral (cheatcc.com)
My360.com.au
gamerevolution.com
cheatingdome.com
unlimitedgamer.net
and more here and there, too many to keep up with
and even a few foreign ones too!
*NOTE: There are many more with single guides, and then others with a few, and
some that I just don't keep track of.*
All other sites must ask permission if they want this. All I ask is that the
guide be ad-free and in this text format.
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COPYRIGHT
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This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
Copyright 2011 Brad Russell